Scandalous Investigations
by GodOfFlame101
Summary: AU. Inuyasha is a detective with Tetsuya Kuzuki. Kagome having no where to go after a tragic accident,is forced into exotic dancing. When the detectives investigate a drug-dealing, they may have to save more than the taxpayer's money.
1. Prologue

EA/N: Removed

Disclaimer: I, GodOfFlame101 under the alias of Damien, do not own any copyrights, Trademarks or affiliates of the Anime/Manga InuYasha. I receive no revenue from this story and this story may be distributed or revoked by the will of the producers of said Anime/Manga without myself seeing so much as a penny.

* * *

Prologue

Scandalous Investigations

* * *

"What the hell were you thinking?"

Lieutenant Amaya was **mad**. Well, perhaps not mad, since she wasn't foaming at the mouth or devouring anyone's heart at the moment. Then again, no one had checked Agent Kuzuki's collarbone in quite a time. No, no, no, she wasn't mad. Hanako was something though, a certain mood that stressed anxiety, worry and anger.

She was Pissed.

Hanako's hands were placed firmly on the edge of her desk as she attempted to push some Pissed out on the table, rather then on two of her best detectives. Her gaze was straight forward and intense yet, she did her best to hide another emotion. Again, she re-iterated.

"What the _hell_ were you idiots thinking? Do you know how much you just cost our department? Not to mention _my_ job and _your_ lives?" She demanded, nostrils flaring with every beginning and end of her statements. Although, unsurprisingly, none of what she said was a statement.

It was a not so typical Wednesday afternoon at the office. Winter was just retracting its icy grip on the continent and spring was sprouting from the soil. With nary a cloud in the sky, the sun was free to express its warmth for the joy of its followers. Unluckily, the office's air conditioning had broken about a couple of weeks ago and the maintenance officers refused to lift a tool until they had some better benefits. So the entire building was meant to curse and complain from the unnecessary heat. With that, spring was arise and was ready to show the world of the living its ability to spread cheer, as well as discomfort, for all of Japan.

When one "thinks Spring," what is the first thing they think about? Is it a warm joyous feeling? Does love fall from the cloud tops, laying its seed throughout the Earth? Or is it a peaceful time, where both mind, body and spirit, co-exist for at least a few decent moments? A peace that is so deep and rich, no one incident could possibly ruin the _entire_ season. Hanako believed in this peace but on the other hand, she had already met the two hanyous who could ruin _any_ peace. Her two star agents who, with the same power they use to bring her First-Class solutions to infiltrations, operations and cases, could bury her neck deep in paper-work, legal documents, citations, and other documents from local groups and court officials.

Detectives Tetsuya Kazuki and Inuyasha Tadashi we're, yet again, the worm in her apple, the chocolate in her fruit cake and the reason she had invested in the American Advil company.

Tetsuya and Inuyasha we're standing, heads down as the perpetual onslaught of insults and degradations were thrown at them, clenching their teeth as they vaguely heard the words "deduction" and "pay," as well as "less" and "vacation time." Inuyasha let ought a barely audible sigh.

'_Damn it_. _After all we risked, she still gives us her goddamn lip. It ain't like we __blew up__ the goddamn building!_'

Tetsuya looked over to his comrade and gave an exasperated smile. Tetsuya was tired, hell, he was too. The most recent operation had actually turned out to be a success in numerous ways and ended with more busts than a horny cow. They had gone in originally for drug-dealing and drug-use charges but considering the circumstances they came out with more than enough to be given a raise.

Inuyasha looked at his wristwatch quickly before McBitch saw him. Ten minutes to eight. Work would be starting soon and he hadn't eaten anything since last night. His arms had a prickling sensation, as though hundreds of poison-tipped needles had been poking him for awhile. His normally straight and white hair was shagged, some strands standing on edge, due to his lack of shower and he had darker, dirtier patches from the ground he had rolled in. He quickly looked up to see that Hanako had noticed him.

"No need to check your fucking watch Tadashi. You know damn well what time it is. You've been checking the goddamn time since you first got here now both of you fucking idiots look at ME!" Amaya shouted.

Tetsuya and Inuyasha raised their heads, their eyes solemn. Still they stood by their actions regardless of threats from internal affairs or the cost of maintenance and repairs to the building. '_Besides,_' Tetsuya remembered, _' "Fluffy" owes me. It's not like I have to __really__ pay anything. Damn good luck for past favors_.'

"You both fucked up. Big fucking time. Have you read the shit about you in the news yet…"

* * *

Two Weeks Ago

Higurashi-Kagome, a high-school graduate and a prized member of her family. She had set the standard and lived the model life. She attended all of her classes, passed her exams with a 'B' or higher, with the occasional 'C' or sometimes barely passing grade, while managing to balance her friends and boyfriend, Hojo.

Her friends were decent people consumed in their own circle with the incessant chattering of boys, marriage and festivals as well as whatever else women talk about. Her boyfriend was a nice but sadly, deluded soul. The kind of guy that experiences love and has it break up in his face. He honestly believed He and Kagome would "be together forever" and live that traditional family image. It was not to be, as shortly before graduation, Kagome left his rear seeing that there was no way to hold a relationship through college and that he wasn't exactly a husband kind of guy.

I suppose I've given the wrong impression of Kagome though. She wasn't a bitch, she didn't think her friends were stupid girls, she wasn't the class prep, and she certainly was not a user. In fact she had shared some wonderful spiritual moments with Hojo and her friends had been the most important things in the world to her. Sadly though, college brought an end to her previous life and she had to step into a new one. Though at the time she believed it only to be a natural phase of life, giving her only the slightest fear of college and of leaving the nest.

She didn't sleep the rest of the night. She sat in the white colored room lost in her thoughtless mind. It was like swimming through a sea of paste. She couldn't move, couldn't breath, there was only one thing her mind could register.

Pain.

Oh, there were other things on her mind but, they were all muddled, thrown into different places. Car crash, family, death…things like that. Somehow or other though she had separated her emotions after seeing her family in the Emergency Room. Whatever the hell doctors were giving to psycho patients nowadays was really a wonderful painkiller.

She had seen the news around seven o' clock. Kagome had been studying her textbook on Anatomy (i.e. pr0n).

"…Where a three-way car crash has seemed to injured four local people. In addition to the four injured, were five, now deceased, residents to the Tokyo area…"

Remembering that bitch from the media was quickening Kagome's blood. How dare she act as though they were but mere statistics. Three of the five were members of her own family! They had names, feelings and thoughts. Dreams. All they aspired to be and had accomplished now meant nothing more than a grain of rice to a fat slob. She wiped a tear away from her face, begging herself not to have another breakdown in the hospital. She was lost, she didn't know what to do. Amazing that mere hours before she was begging her little brother not to die on her, to no avail. She wished she hadn't have had exams to study for. She wished mid term's were so goddamn stressful. She would have gone with them, she could have been with her family when it happened. Even better perhaps she could have drove ad by some small chance, she could have avoided it.

It was her fault.

She could have saved them all if she had stopped studying her idiotic Arts and Language courses. She cursed under her breath, cursed herself and everything she had done to kill them. Had her school taught her nothing? Had training with Kaede taught her nothing? She should have been in the fucking car. She could have done something. She had all the powers that was needed and she still wasn't there when they needed her the most. If she had been there…her family would still be alive.

What would happen to Kagome now? Her payment for school was due by the end of tomorrow. She had money but not nearly enough to pay for school. She didn't want to think about it too hard but she knew what she would have to do. For now, she took the bus to her apartment, her mother had rented it for her before Kagome went to college.

At four in the morning, Kagome forced herself to eat breakfast. Her stomach refused and expelled the food from her body. Fifteen minutes after shower, she finally cried herself to sleep.


	2. Oil and Water

A/N: It was one of those, i need to get down my story kind of days. Well, today's chapter is all about our two detectives. So if you're only here waiting for provocative chapters featuring a partially nude Kagome, think next chapter and if not, definitely after that. I wanted to make sure i had this up first. Okay, so maybe i am stalling but, its for the best...hopefully...anyway, my small shout to my two known readers is at the bottom. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I bear no rights to any titles, characters, or affiliates associated with InuYasha, nor do I own InuYasha period. Do you think there would only have been 167 episodes if I did? And don't you think they wouldn't have been as repetitive?

* * *

Chapter 1-Oil and Water

Scandalous Investigations

* * *

Inuyasha walked the hall to his office, praying he would get there before the lieutenant did and that he wouldn't be scolded for being late…again. She could be a total bitch when someone wasn't following the rules. She had come into office around the same time Inuyasha joined up, when ranks were switched after the now retired Chief of Police had declared his resignation.

Tadashi-Inuyasha. A detective third-grade (at that time) on the force for no more than two years. Most of the street cops despised him for the simple fact that he was a hanyou, let alone the fact that he had a better resume then most after only a short time. Although his current co-workers argued that, once you got to know Inuyasha, you could hate him for more important reasons, such as his lack of compassion for others or his efficiency in dealing with the more rough yet educated perps, a skill slowly dwindling out of the department. Most detectives found it logical to dress in suits and or office dresses for the job. Not Inuyasha. He often dressed in black dress pants, black dress shoes and a red pullover collared shirt. His lack of etiquette was visible no matter what sort of endeavor he undertook, dressing or investigations.

He was relieved to find that, not only was he on-time, the lieutenant was no where to be found. To the same extent, nor was his partner, Tetsuya.

"Figures," Inuyasha breathed out amongst the ever growing ground floor, "The one time I _am_ here early, he would have to come in late! Goddamn him! All the work on this new case we have and he still finds it necessary to take so goddamn long to get ready!"

His anger was forged not only from Tetsuya's illusion of uncaring but, from the new case they had garnered two days ago.

The two were given the task of tracking down an illegal drug smuggling operation which could erupt the entire pacific in flames. Recently, drug-related deaths had climbed from fourteen to thirty-three percent of all deaths in Tokyo. The problem wasn't with how much people were taking alone; it was the severity of the punch of the single dose. The past four out of five autopsies had revealed that three had suffered from something equal a fatal dose of opium on the third take and one had died equal to a fatal dose on the second. To make matters more interesting, no evidence of other serious problems indicated the drugs triggered something such as a heart attack or stroke or any other serious conditions. All had been almost perfectly healthy, aside from a glass or three of wine her or there, and killed almost instantaneously from these drugs. It remained to be seen whether or not it was their first try with the drugs or not. It was remarkable that the drugs had taken this effect so quickly to transform the percentage that high in just eight months. Hence, the two hanyous were now given the task of stopping this "little" distribution and fast.

Oh, yes..."hanyou."

A little over thirty years ago, Japan's president had formerly recognized demons as part of Japan's people which garnered them protection under the government as well as basic rights, which brought the ones in the main islands out and let the other ones who had fled from Japan to move back in. Of course youkai had existed for hundred of years but never on good, let alone decent, terms for…well, ever in Japan's history. Inuyasha was born some years after the law had been passed and still had to deal with the discrimination and flat-out racism the human teenagers, and adults, shot him with. He remembered all too well the angry glares he received on his way too his "special school." The schools were designed for younger youkai and hanyous to try and "integrate" them into modern society. I'm sure by now you understand this isn't an important topic, at least for the sake of the present it isn't, so we'll leave this for the future.

Inuyasha opened the case file, for what must have been the umpteenth time, and scanned it over, his amber eyes taking in every detail of the case. Fatal drugs, age range twenty-two to fifty-four, there just wasn't enough information. Everyone in the fucking world knew there was more to this case but in the eyes of the law, it was a simple overdose. Putting aside the fact the drugs were obviously illegal, there wasn't much that could be done. He let out a small sigh and closed the file.

Inuyasha's silver ears twitched and his nose wrinkled slightly with the smell that had entered.

"You're late again Kuzuki." Inuyasha muttered, his eyes still starring at the closed manila folder.

"Sorry dog-boy." Tetsuya said as he ruffled Inuyasha's silver mane. Tetsuya had prepared for his day with Inuyasha by rubbing his feet on the carpet downstairs. Now, Inuyasha's hair had more spikes than a porcupine. "I had some business to attend to before work you see and-"

"Business my ass!" Inuyasha shouted for the entire office to hear. "I can _smell_ what you were doing and it wasn't _busi-_"

Tetsuya threw his hand over the hanyou's mouth causing Inuyasha to bite his own lip, blood trickling onto his tongue. The department wasn't as privileged to know what Inuyasha did. As an act of goodwill, Tetsuya straightened the Inu-hanyou's hair while uttering an annoying 'Shhh' in his ear. Tetsuya wasn't normally a shy person but the last thing he wanted was all of the male employees to be giving him the "thumbs up," especially a certain perverted street cop that he tried his best to avoid.

Kuzuki-Tetsuya. Detective second-grade, he had been a detective for almost eight years. One of the only people ever to skip basic training and street patrol to be enrolled as a detective. The only other person to pull off such a feat was his partner. Tetsuya was an all around nice person with a dry sense of humor and abundance of sarcasm. He had been partnered with Inuyasha since the mutt's induction into service, after the transfer of his previous partner. Tetsuya found a way to work around the dress-code, rather than flat-out disobeying it like the dog-eared mongrel. He consistently dressed in black dress pants, a "tight, yet loose fitting" black shirt as he called it and a white dress jacket.

"So, what do you make of this?" Tetsuya questioned, pulling a wheeled chair from his desk and sitting next to Inuyasha.

"Well…"

"You really don't have a damn clue about any of this do you?"

"What the hell…You tryin' to tell me_ you_ have an idea?"

"Why yes actually." Tetsuya dramatized his statement by closing his eyes and turning around, swiping the folder from Inuyasha in the process. "One of the…"victims," was a youkai. She had died the quickest in comparison to the other three that the medical examiner had autopsied. Obviously this tells us that anyone with demon blood in them what-so-ever, is more susceptible to death after this new drug enters their body. Still, no drug, no matter how powerful should kill after one dose." His eyes shifted to Inuyasha.

"So you think these idiots over dosed." Inuyasha said, meeting his partners glance.

"Possibly, suicide is a risk factor here, although no records say they went for psychiatric help. It's still possible they took the drugs to die. Although I guess it's our job to find that out" He said with a grin. "Though I assume whoever they bought the stuff from informed them of what a lethal amount was before the sale, as to bring the people back for more."

Inuyasha contemplated the information. Despite the evidence and knowledge they had thus far, he knew there was something big to this but the question was what.

"Let's talk to some of the families, get some of their friend's names. I'll bet they told their friends things they wouldn't tell their families," Inuyasha said.

"Alright, meet me in the garage; I'd rather not take the rooftops. Besides," Tetsuya let his smile open brightly, "I haven't gotten to test my new car that much yet."

Inuyasha entered the passenger side of Tetsuya's new sports car. Blue. As was with everything that Tetsuya dealt with. Hell, even his hair was blue. Not dark blue like the ocean but, light blue, like the sky on a cloudless day. It curved inwardly then extended outward again as it reached its peak, like the figure of a woman. Whether or not the hair was natural or dyed Inuyasha did not know much less did he really care. Although he did have to wonder why Tetsuya never wore blue clothes…

"Inuyasha, what the hell, why the katana, do you really need it right now?" Tetsuya had noticed the sheathed weapon before Inuyasha had even opened the door. Of course, Tetsuya knew the answer to his own question, regardless of what the hanyou admitted to.

Tetsusaiga, Inuyasha's katana, kept his demon blood in check during different…situations…Inuyasha obviously wanted it close by in case 'Spring' decided to infect him now.

"Never know." Was Inuyasha's reply as they started off eastward.

Well started isn't really the word to describe it. What would be? More like "floored it".

Tetsuya abused his speeding privileges more than often and often he did for two reasons.

One, he wanted to beat street traffic as well as scare the Inu-hanyou next to him for the first few seconds.

Two and, quite possibly the most important reason, he enjoyed glancing over at Inuyasha as the Inu-hanyou debated to stick his head out of the window…

* * *

The first two families they talked two weren't that helpful. Both were caught up in funeral arrangements and organizing for a wake.

"I still can't believe it…"  
"All she had to live for…"  
"He had just been accepted into his dream college…"  
"My poor baby…"

It was sickening him. Humans as they wasted their tears over the dead. Ignoring those who could bring them justice just to wallow in their guilt and misery. And every time, after they had finished grieving for fifteen minutes, they all said the same thing.

"I'm sorry, I can't think right now. Please…I wish I could help but…"

Inuyasha punched the passenger side air-bag, activating the contraption and fixing the poor hanyou to his seat.

"Serves you right dog-boy. Hitting my new car when she's only a few days old." Tetsuya said, feigning hurt from Inuyasha's outburst. None-the-less, he used a clawed finger to pop the safety apparatus and freed the hanyou from his imprisonment.

"This is pointless! They're never gonna talk to us! They're too damn busy waddling around like idiots to give us any information at all!"

Tetsuya pulled up to the curb of the apartment complex. Room Three-thirty-two B. Sounded cozy. Problem, they were on one of the worst sides of the city.

"Calm down Inuyasha. This is our last human family stop. After this we'll deal with the demon family. Or would you rather deal with the youkai family now and get harassed?"

Inuyasha let out an audible 'Feh' and walked into and up to their objective, Tetsuya close behind.

"So, e's dead now huh?" Asked the obviously un-sober man as Tetsuya informed him of the grief news. "Serves him good for running out on 'is own fam'ly. Gering off ta dat damn "clubhouse" of his. Bunch of punks and crooks who sit 'round getting' high and pullin' pranks."

Inuyasha couldn't help but notice the man's shirt. Full of holes, cigarettes probably, coffee and bear stains, and that musky, natural smell. Inuyasha cringed slightly with that unrelenting smell that caused shocks of disgust…and envy.

"Anyways, I don'ts gots nofin' to say to a couple a' hanyoos, so gets lost!"

If Tetsuya hadn't immediately slammed his foot upon Inuyasha's, the Inu-hanyou would have most surely killed him.

"I'll cut you a deal." Tetsuya began, his eyes looking sternly into the man's. "Tell us where this "clubhouse" is and we'll get a unit to arrest them all."

* * *

"What? How the hell did he die! When? Where? Oh my god…"

There had been one attendant at the establishment. Coincidently, the father had gotten the name right. The Clubhouse was a bar and grill located on the north-side of Tokyo. The "pranks" as it had turned out were community service projects The Clubhouse had sponsored, which dealt with cleaning up parts of the city and fighting for equal work wages for all of Japanese citizens. In other words, the victim's father was an abusive, racist idiot who believed in segregation of Humans and Demons.

Inuyasha had helped the attendant to a seat after it was obvious the news had shaken up. He had confessed earlier to being the manager of the bar. He was sniffling trying to hold back the tears in his eyes and trying to hide the pain in his heart.

"We had become friends a few years back. He was trying to get money for college and I offered him a job here. His father had apparently been abusive and he looked like he could really use the money. We started organizing advertisements and projects together and got to know each other better. We both had the same interests, the same taste in women, music. We became brothers in a sense."

Both of the hanyous fidgeted in their seats slightly when the word Brother was mentioned. Tetsuya hadn't seen his brother in a long time. Inuyasha, well…he and his brother weren't exactly the best of friends.

"I can't even begin to understand why he would take drugs. The only reason I can think of is…maybe because he broke up with his girlfrien-"

"How long ago?" Inuyasha interrupted, obviously bored with this sappy speech. Tetsuya shot him a glance labeled, "Goddamn it Inuyasha, Shut the Hell Up!"

"Oh, umm…two-two and a half weeks ago I think." The manager replied. "Please…if you find anything, let me know…and if there's anything I can do…"

Inuyasha got up and walked out leaving Tetsuya to give out the standard information and good-bye ceremony. He emerged from the bar a few minutes later. "You know, you could have been a bit more polite. At the very least he was trying to help."

"Feh. He did a lousy job of it. A guy doesn't go on drugs just because of one girl." Inuyasha stated as he climbed into the car.

"I suppose you're right…" Tetsuya still sounded as if he disagreed. "Come on, we'll question the girl tomorrow. I want to get this next family over with." Tetsuya started the engine as he finished.

"Why? What kind of youkai are they?" Inuyasha was curious. Agent Kuzuki never wanted to get through youkai questioning quickly. He knew Tetsuya fairly well and he had come to find out Tetsuya liked reading youkai reactions as opposed to humans. The only time he put them first was when the youkai were…

"Cats."

* * *

End Note: I figured it only fitting to thank inuyashasbabygurl14 for reviewing...although with the review and story alert i've been added to, im starting to notice a pattern...more on that later. Again, thanks for the review and thanks HollisterGirl29 for the add. Hope i can "please your needs" for a story.


	3. The Food Chain

A/N: Okay, so i admit to running right out and getting the second chapter out of the way now. Some confessions, I orignally wanted to put a cross in the time frame b/w nine days and six but since this was finished sooner I though I would add it tonight and take the beating from my fellow male comrades who will beat me over the head for not posting anything describing Kagome fucking some guy. Real mature guys. Really. Next chapter I promise rolls eyes perhaps not exactly all of that but i assure you the next chapter will be all about Kagome so hold and damn flames you may have about Kagome not appearing in this damn chapter. I'm trying not to display her to negatively. So Kagome comes next chapter, expect it within the week. To all fo you who actually want to know how Inuyasha and Tetsuya finish the day, here you go!

Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha. I promise you, I do not. I wish I did but, sadly, I do not…and most likely never will.

* * *

Chapter 2- The Food Chain

Scandalous Investigations

* * *

"Inuyasha…"

Inuyasha looked at his partner, well aware of what he was going to say. He said it every time they went into a youkai's home.

"…Look, maybe I should take this one alone. You know what they're going to say once they see you." He stopped, concern showing in his eyes as he looked at Inuyasha. "I don't want to be rude but, I look more human and my scent is harder to decipher so maybe it would be best considering how you al-"

"Shut up." Inuyasha said as he exited the vehicle. Tetsuya exited quickly following after the hanyou. "The sooner we finish this, the closer we are to ending this case and the sooner I get to go to bed. Listening to humans whine all day is enough of a job."

Tetsuya noticed Inuyasha's Tetsusaiga around his waist. Tetsuya prayed that he wouldn't have to draw it for this. Most demons could be most…inhospitable.

* * *

Inuyasha knocked on the door to the house. The two were currently outside the city limits, on a more rugged patch of land. Most of the residents worked in the city. Still, some worked at the local hospitals, clinics and markets around for the sub-urban folk. Tetsuya noticed as Inuyasha's left hand went to the hilt of his Tetsusaiga. He knew why. He had smelled it to. Not only was a youkai coming to the door but, she was a female. But even better, she was in heat.

The neko-youkai opened the door, eyeing the two hanyous suspiciously. She appeared to be no more than twenty-six but to have a daughter she must have been older. She greeted them with an informal "What?"

"Good evening ma'am. I am Agent Kuzuki and this is Agent Tadashi. My partner and I are detectives with the Tokyo Police Department." Tetsuya announced with a serious face. "If it wouldn't trouble you, may we please come in and talk to you for a moment? We have some questions about your daughter we'd like to ask you."

Inuyasha didn't miss the look of disgust on her face. He knew exactly what she was thinking. '_How dare they send dirty, filthy hanyous to tackle a case about a youkai?_' He had dealt with it far too much in this lifetime, more than most considering his job had taken him right to the heart of it at times.

"Please, come in." The distaste in her voice was evident as she released herself from the doorframe and strode into her kitchen.

Tetsuya and Inuyasha looked at each other, both of them fearing what might actually transpire inside the house. A moment later, Tetsuya let out a sigh and smiled at the Inu-hanyou.

"Down boy." Tetsuya mused. Inuyasha looked down and noticed, much to his disapproval, Spring really had begun working its magic on the poor hanyou.

* * *

The home wasn't much. A simple two floor house with tan-painted walls, a kitchen, four bedrooms, one bath and a lounge area. The detectives and neko-youkai sat at the rectangular table in the kitchen, tension abundantly whizzing through the air and out the opened window in the lounge. Inuyasha's elbow had perched itself upon the table as he stared at the neko-youkai, trying to direct his mind to what he was supposed to ask. There was too much to try and put in place.

First problem, his aching member which was there at all times to inform him of the neko-youkai's fertility and how he could solve that small dilemma. Spring was a pain in the ass to anyone who had even the tiniest smidge of youkai-blood in them. Combine that with the fact that Inuyasha was an Inu-hanyou, which was an animal that had proved beyond a shadow of a doubt, that they were the horniest species alive.

Second problem, they were dealing with a youkai. The equation was already set into his mind. One youkai plus two hanyous equals a showdown. It wasn't a big secret that hanyous and youkai, behaved almost as badly as youkai and humans. If she decided to attack, they would have to defend themselves and Inuyasha didn't want to deal with the media or interrogation from internal affairs for drawing his handgun.

The last problem wasn't more of a problem as much as it was an emotion. Inuyasha was envious of Tetsuya. Tetsuya had an outlet for his pressure and he didn't. The thought can piss off any man in a rut.

Still, Inuyasha had a job to do; he cleared his throat then began.

"When was-"

"It's rude to put your elbows on the table." The neko-youkai coldly stated, her eyes staring at the table, refusing to even glance at the filth in her own home.

Inuyasha growled, removing his elbow from the table and began to question her again.

"When was the last-"

"I take it you didn't wipe your feet before coming in?" The neko-youkai was toying with Inuyasha, wanting, waiting, for him to crack under the pressure of her annoyance. She didn't like him, even in her lust for everything that moved she despised hanyous and all they were. Incompetent, ill-equipped abominations of life. She saw the anger flowing in his amber eyes, his hatred, and his hurt. She didn't want the purity of her daughter's case to be shattered by these half-breeds.

Inuyasha couldn't deal with it anymore. His now aching member and his anger were building inside of him. He feared letting go of Tetsusaiga. He hadn't since they had stepped out of the car. Inuyasha wanted nothing more than to draw the blade and cut a deep gash right into her pleasure area. He wanted her to scream the pain into his face and beg him. Beg him for more or less he didn't know, he was too lost in anger to figure it out. Of course, such sick thoughts could only be the work of Spring right?

"Why you ungrateful little-" Inuyasha began.

Fortunately for him, he hadn't missed the raising temperature of his shirt. He instantly knew what was going on. He wasn't going to screw this up. The only other lead they had other than this was the third victim's girlfriend, which, wasn't even exactly a lead at all. Inuyasha glanced to his bottom-left, just under the table, where two fingers of Tetsuya's left hand were pointing at him. Looking further up, Inuyasha's eyes locked with Tetsuya's. The look in Tetsuya's eyes wasn't comforting and the hanyou ceased talking, knowing damn well Tetsuya would do it.

"Ma'am, we have to know," Tetsuya began, "When was the last time you saw your daughter? Was she in any serious financial trouble? Was she being rebellious? Anything you can tell us would really help. You already know she died of a drug overdose, so is there any particular reason you could think of that she may turn to drugs? Maybe," He paused, "Maybe the season got to her…"

For this first time, the neko-youkai looked at the two half-breeds in front of her.

"My daughter did what she was supposed to and stayed out of _people_'s way." She emphasized 'people,' obviously referring to humans. She starred directly into Tetsuya's crystal blue eyes. "You're asking _me_ why I think she took drugs? I really don't know detective. I haven't really talked to her since she moved away from me and into the city with that bastard. The last I heard from her was that her "man" had kicked her out of the house. She probably wound up as some whore on the street, looking for a good time."

The neko-youkai's aura had been growing steadily as she talked. This story was bothering her and Tetsuya hoped she finished before she let it get the best of her. He looked at Inuyasha who had drawn Tetsusaiga a half an inch from its sheath. Inuyasha wanted nothing better than to cut her up and let the wolves devour her. _'That or he'll devour her himself.'_ Tetsuya thought. A dry chuckle had escaped his lips and thankfully the neko-youkai had let it go, shifting her attention to the Inu-hanyou before her.

"I don't know what the hell my daughter was thinking detective. The only thing I can tell you is this, she left with some bastard human." She said spitting out the word human, "I DO know that he made a profit from her body, whether or not she did tell me or not, and I'm sure she became a whore considering she didn't know how to do much else." Her eyes we're glued to Inuyasha's. She needed something, anything, to quell this burning she had. She saw him, smelled the desire he had, hungered for what he could provide. He may be a hanyou but still…

A loud, mildly annoying ring had emerged in the room.

'_Shit.'_ Tetsuya reached into his pocket. He knew who was calling and knew to take it considering he was already in enough trouble. He took one last quick look at Inuyasha. He didn't want to leave the house. Inuyasha's hand was trembling on the Tetsusaiga. '_Inuyasha…Please…don't do anything stupid.' _"Sorry, I have to take this." Tetsuya said has he got up. Inuyasha stood with him and Tetsuya exited the house.

And there they were.

Two demons both infected by the irony of Spring. The neko-youkai got up from her seat, eyes still looking at Inuyasha. He was _hungry._ She could see it in his eyes, how his amber eyes moved around the room, looking for something else, to no avail, and landed on her. Eyes full of life and lust. She took a step toward him.

"So how long have you been working with this, Agent Kuzuki?" She asked, her expression softening as her yellow eyes told secrets to his amber ones.

"About a year now." Inuyasha replied, turning his head away from her. His eyes still found their way back. Every voice in his end, minus the one that mattered, screamed to give in and do as nature intended. His conscience reminded him about all of life's values and love and his job…Still, he wanted it and she wanted it badly from what he could smell.

"Well, that's decent amount of time." She had covered even more distance after that and was a few inches from his body. Her cold feline eyes looked at his torso as her hand placed itself upon it. She didn't care if he was a hanyou, if only for a few minutes. _'Screw it'_ She thought. She needed something inside of her and he wasn't sore on the eyes at all. She let a mischievous smile spread on her face. Spring had gotten the best of her. Slowly, she got on her toes and whispered into his ear,

"I want you…"

* * *

"I wanted that report on my desk an hour ago Agent Kuzuki!" Lieutenant Amaya yelled into the receiver.

"Damn it Hanako! Is that all you called me for? We're finishing up for the day right now. We have to finish questioning this last parent, and then you'll have your report for the day!"

"Don't you take that tone of voice with me Tetsuya! Or I swear I will come down there and-"

Tetsuya's hearing had picked up the commotion taking place in the kitchen. From the cell phone could vaguely be heard the ranting of Lieutenant Amaya as she yelled things such as "Do you know how much work you two put me under?" as well as "…all the times you two bury me in paperwork and-" Tetsuya withdrew the handgun from chest holster inside his jacket. For anyone who studies firearms and it curious as to what type of handgun, Tetsuya is a bit strange in his choice of firearms, gravitating towards western models. His then current handgun was the M1911 .45 Pistol. As for the lot of you, it's just a really cool handgun with a black finish.

"Sorry Hanako, I have to go, you'll have your report in about an hour. You can time me if you want."

With that he hung up the phone and took the safety off of his gun.

* * *

She had pinned up against a wall as her tongue hungrily nipped and licked his neck. He wanted her off but he wanted her there. His grown member wanted to get out of his clothes, it wanted to fulfill its purpose in life. Inuyasha drew the Tetsusaiga from its sheath. He was going to stop this, he had to, before he did something he would later regret.

Tetsusaiga dropped with a clang when the neko-youkai ripped the collar of his shirt open and licked at his Adam's apple as she wrapped her legs around his waist. Inuyasha was losing control. His vision had faded slightly and the tint of the room was changing to a deep red in his eyes. Just to match, his eyes also began changing to their youkai form.

She painted his lips with her tongue before drawing back for a minute.

"Hmm, I guess this is getting too much for you to handle. I suppose I'll have to let you have what you want." She smiled as the hanyou let out a series of growls as he tried to control the youkai nature within him. Using her claw, she cut a line down the collar of her shirt and pulled it open, exposing her bust to Inuyasha. She was going to get what she wanted. Whether she regretted it later or not didn't cross her mind but she needed it now and "just by coincidence" she had someone who wanted it almost as badly as her. She pressed her chest against Inuyasha.

"If you want me so badly," She moved up to his ear, "Come get me."

After finishing her sentence, she felt a cold sensation on her back. Ice-cold. She yelped in pain before being knocked unconscious from whatever the hell had transpired.

'_Baka.' _Tetsuya thought as he retracted his arm. _'Now to deal with that other __damn_ idiot.'

Inuyasha had almost completed his transformation when Tetsuya's fist slammed him into floor, causing the some tile to break or crack from the impact. A small display of the demonic powers, even if Inuyasha had been the one to throw the punch but, still affective enough to "knock" some sense into the half-breed.

Not that Tetsuya was one to talk, being a half-breed himself. A Fushichou-hanyou but a hanyou none-the-less. It was just that, in his eyes, he was a _cooler_ species of demon.

A sly smile spread across agent Kuzuki's face. _'Of course, if Inuyasha would like to argue that with me again, we could always settle it in our usual manner.'_

Inuyasha began to stir after the shock from the impact wore off. There were two things he noticed as he stood up. The first being that his shirt was ripped, his favorite one which he had paid an absurd amount of money for and two, his groin was in considerable pain. Tetsuya forgot to figure in the erection with his, "Inu-hanyou-hit-ground-face-first-for-being-stupid" plan.

Inuyasha looked at Tetsuya. "Don't tell me that I…"

"You came pretty damn close you mangy mutt." Tetsuya said looking at the neko-youkai on the ground, content with his work. "Let's go, she won't remember anything and we have some paperwork to do."

"Feh, Hanako called and rode your ass right?"

Tetsuya gave him no reply.

"So I was right!" Inuyasha smiled triumphantly. "I dunno Tetsuya, I was gonna say you really aren't scared of cats but if you get all jumpy over one neko-youkai then you really are her b-"

"I didn't know you were so into cat's dog-boy. I'll be sure to let Miroku know what you got into today. You can count on that." With that Tetsuya walked out to the car with a nervous Inuyasha behind. "Consider it your punishment for almost calling me the 'B' word."

For a moment Inuyasha's mouth hung wide after thinking about what Miroku was going to say but, for the moment he dismissed this giving a loud "Feh!" as he climbed into the passenger seat of Tetsuya's car.

* * *

End Note: To those who are all "Wtf? Wth is Fushichou?" I promise, it has no reference to the Yaoi website i found while doing research. It actually means phoenix. Go back and replace Fushichou with phoenix if it bugs you. Unless Im wrong, then send me what it REALLY is and Ill go back and edit it. Makes no difference to me, I got time.


	4. More About the Money

A/N: Whaaaaaatttt! I just wrote this entire chapter in like four hours. I was really trying to make it good but I donjt think it turned out so well. I have a serious writers block when it comes to appeasing my male fans who seem to think that they should click and view and not review, just for the fact that they dont want to be caught checking out this story for the simple fact it has some sexual themes to it. Anyway, like i promised, some sexual stuff (not that well, more to come next chapter i guess), an entire chapter on Kagome. Flame me if you need to but i wont care, I finally have gotten over 100 hits to the story THAT WERE NOT ME. That was my oal for the next 4 years and now its over! Thanks everyone for reading...although, please keep your reasons for reading to yourself. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha. I promise you, I do not. I swear to my and your god, Inuyasha is not stuffed in a closet waiting for a certain Human girl to get off of her lazy ass and go do something like get proper training with a damn bow so she can be of some goddamn use once in awhile…I don't own him…but at least he has snacks...

* * *

Chapter 3- More About the Money

Scandalous Investigations

* * *

"_No, no, no! Hold it steadier! Aye! Like that. Now, pull is back and- ye gods! Don't release it yet!"_

_Her training went on for what seemed like eons at a time. Now to say these weren't enjoyable hours. It was an emotional and bonding time for her, more than an actual "necessity" of learning the abilities and uses of her skills. She had come to admire her mentor almost as a surrogate-grandmother, coming for her to comfort or questions concerning the mysteries and joys of life. For instance, she had come to Her when the local schoolboys were bragging about certain conversation's they had with their fathers._

_Kagome was no more than six when her grandfather had introduced her to Kaede, one of his oldest and most personal of friends._

_Her grandfather and Kaede had met when their parents had taken them to a shrine on their fifth birthday. It was their that they would come, no matter what weather, once every other day for two hours, to hone their priest and priestess powers. Both were exceptional students, choosing to use a bow to channel their powers into highly destructive weapons of purity. At the age of twenty however, Kagome's grandfather had served in the local militia when a radical group of Youkai led a campaign to overthrow the Japanese government, noting its current state of weakness, after the second world war. Her grandfather's spiritual connections were shattered, leaving his sutras and purifying powers at no more effectiveness than throwing a spec of dust into the wind._

Oh and here's two more history lessons.

The first one is simple. The second world war didn't exactly end the way a textbook would say it did. Due to the addition of demon's in the struggle (Japan's persecution of them and the allies beginning to hire them), First of all, there isn't a country such as Italy anymore. Italy had been…overthrown…in the Battle of the Titans, named due to the fact that two of the interfering demons who clashed with one another happened to be generals in huge Air and Sea invasions. To make things short, Italy was irradiated…literally. There is currently no map in existence from the past sixty years that indicates that Italy is a part of the world. Of course not all of the changes were as gruesome as that. Look at France. Well…more say, look at the "Eastern Province of the Vietnamese Republic."

Secondly, some background information on the radicals may help provide some insight into race relations in Japan. The youkai were mostly male ranging from twenty to forty-four years of age. It was mostly a rebellion of outcasts from small farming islands who believed that the Japanese government owed them for only trading with the mother country and insisted that demons be recognized as citizens. Wonderfully bloody battle really. Took place just outside of Kyoto, and drifted all the way to fifteen kilometers outside of Tokyo.

_Fortunately, after Kagome had been born, Kaede had agreed to take Kagome under her own wing and teach her all she knew about being a miko. With Kaede's help Kagome quickly learned how to use a bow and purifying arrow, as well as set up small barriers to deflect weak projectiles._

"_How's this Miss Kaede?" The young Kagome frequently questioned, her child's innocence shining brightly in her chocolate eyes._

"_Very good Kagome but, ye need to raise your arm a little. Ye don't want to miss the target do ye?"_

"_No, I don't." Disappointment was evident almost always after Kagome received a question like that but each and every time, she would pick up her lesson and start again, gaining the knowledge she would need for her future life._

_After her first year of training, Kagome grew even fonder of her mentor. Perhaps even taking her relationship with the woman too far considering she knew attachment could be problematic, especially with the techniques she was learning. (Now please don't take this so far as to create pictures of a young Kagome screwing Kaede, by fond, take it as a grandmother and granddaughter attachment, I don't need the citations from the C2 communities thanks.) Still, Kagome let it go and began spending for time around her grandmother; often treating Kaede for ice-cream for being such a wonderful mentor or Kaede taking Kagome to trips to the park for relaxation and to see the ducks, chewing on sandwiches as the little birds hungrily made their way closer to the two, just to garner a smidgen of bread. There was something that Kaede had said to her one time though, something that even in her dream's reminiscence, she could clearly make out. It stuck to her as if it were a cat, perched upon the kitchen curtains, afraid of the growling teeth below._

"_Kagome, never feed a wild animal. It will only keep coming back, bringing more and more company and guilt with it. Ye must never, give in to a wild animal's hungry gaze."_

_

* * *

_

Kagome's eyes fluttered open when the last of her dream had finished. Checking the alarm clock, she found herself cursing under her breath. She was supposed to have been ready two hours ago to prepare for another useless day of job searching. Truth be told, she really didn't understand why she was so worried. She had been looking for a job for the past three days now.

The first place she tried was a Wacdonald's near the campus. She had to drop out of school for the time being to pay for her own needs as well as the expenses of her now deceased family.

Kagome had sold the house and all of its contents the moment it she acquired it. Well technically, the bank had to repossess it. Not only did the family have unpaid debts, to which were equal the price of the house, they also had finances in place for their funeral. Kagome had nearly lost it again when she had to stare as they diamond necklace her mother was sold along with other pieces of jewelry from her mother to help pay for her own mother's funeral.

Kagome had left school when one of the administrators had come looking for the payment that was due after midterms, which Kagome had just recently wrapped up. She handed in her note of resignation and went to her apartment, looking through her neighbor's old newspaper for some of the job listings that she may be able to obtain.

If there was one thing she had proven in her few days now, it was that she was extremely resilient and had an unnatural knack of bouncing back to achieve what she needed to. She hadn't shed a single tear since she had watched as her younger brother slipped away from her.

Damn…poor Souta. He was the only one who had even the slightest chance of living from the crash. The impact had caused the seatbelt to push on his diaphragm, releasing the air in his lungs and causing him to black out before any pain. Souta had also inhaled large amounts of smoke from the burning vehicles before firemen could pull him out of the scene. A side-note that the doctors and surgeons refused to reveal to Kagome was that tiny slivers of glass had embedded themselves throughout Souta's body when the windshield broke. How would the doctors tell the poor girl something like that.

"I'm sorry Miss Higaurashi, your little brother died this evening. He had thousands of tiny shrapnel like pieces of glass embedded in his body, causing him to lose blood faster than we could replace. As a consolidation, he didn't feel as much pain as the rest of your family."

There was no real way to bring something like that out to an already emotionally dead nineteen year old.

Still, Kagome had pulled herself together for the interview. The "restaurant" was hiring so she figured she would be accepted. She had only one rule. She wouldn't be taken in for pity.

Perhaps that was the main mistake she made. In three days she had gone to sixteen businesses looking for a job. She had gone two four Wacdonald's, three gas stations, four interviews for a waitress in various restaurants and five different telemarketer companies in Tokyo. Ever job she applied to, there was the exact…same…excuse for why she couldn't have the job.

"Look, you have a nice resume but, were looking more for college participant who need the income, I hope you understand."

It had been six days. She was down to her last hundred to two-hundred dollars. She had herself to feed and the rent was due next week.

No child should ever have to bear this burden at so young…

* * *

Kagome walked the long road to her apartment complex, taking it the neon signs, as they buzzed and flickered with every passing minute. The air was crisp and cool for a Spring night, a night filled with the ominous eyes watching her as she trudged alone through the city. The wind had picked up and sent shivers throughout her body as it crept up her angle through her khakis, trapping itself inside the warmth of her body. One of the neon signs shut off with a crackle before her, causing her already twitchy body to bolt down the alleyway to her right. She had sensed someone following her for the past few blocks but had dismissed it seeing as she only sensed it once every couple of minutes, not as if her stalker was right behind her. Still, her woman's intuition was telling her that something was up, something evil judging from the way the hairs on the back of her neck were beginning to stand on end. She exited the alleyway, turning right on the street, entering another alleyway, and down two more streets until she came to an alleyway with a curious sign on it.

**The Neko-Niche** (for those that flunked Biology, a niche is the habitat of a certain species or breed, a place that they make their home where food and resources are available. At least, in the simplest terms…though Biology was a few years ago for me…eh if I'm wrong shoot me).

A curious name for a place, though Kagome didn't feel comfortable hanging around here much longer. There was one thing that baited her. The one thing that her chocolate brown eyes couldn't refuse to ignore.

**Help Wanted**

She needed the job. More than that, she needed the _money._ Kagome may had been innocent but she wasn't a fool. She knew what this place must be and she knew the risk she was taking but…

Her face twisted into a frown of disappointment as she painfully uttered her words.

"I need this..." She said to no one in particular. Too bad for her, one of the "employees" was on her break and heard Kagome mention this.

"Oh? So what is it you need?" Came the rough reply from a shadow next to her. Kagome jumped slightly and spun around to source of the voice. "It's been a long time since a human girl has come to a place like this."

"I w-was just l-looking for a-" Kagome stuttered, cut off by the youkai which had emerged from the shadows.

"Calm down honey. I can't tell you how many times I've heard that story."

It was a female youkai. Her expression was soft as she spoke to Kagome, understanding, concerned. The youkai dressed in a small red dress, which stopped short at her thighs, compacting her womanly figure into an easily "accessible" package. The youkai's eyes were red and bloodshot, and they traced Kagome's figure in judgment, taking in every detail of her person.

The girl wasn't bruised, so she wasn't another runaway with an abusive man. The youkai smiled slightly, relieved they weren't going to have to deal with another one like that. Aside from that, the girl had a near perfect figure. Her breasts were well rounded and the perfect size. Large while not being freakishly huge, the kind that screamed to be cut from their life of clothed imprisonment. Still, she was nervous…and frightened…too many had come in through this place just like her, so the youkai knew how to get her hooked.

"Listen," she said, taking a step closer to Kagome, "My name is Kagura, you're looking for a job right?"

Shame and fear ripped at Kagome's heart. How did she ever wind up in a place like this? She knew she had to tell her the answer but…what would everyone think of her?

"Yes." Kagome answered, her head bowed to the floor, tears wishing to escape her eyes.

"Hey, it's not a big deal. Plenty of girls come through in your situation." Kagura said, placing her hand on Kagome's shoulder. "What are you worried about with this job anyway? It's just a job and it's not like it hurts anyone."

"I…I don't want…want to…" Kagome tried to find her words, without seeming like a complete idiot in front of the "experienced" woman.

"Oh, I see what's bothering you. Tell you what. All you have to do is dance." Kagura said with a smirk.

Kagome starred at the strange youkai, unable to comprehend what was going on, it was moving to fast, to fluently, like a typical everyday conversation. "Wha-What?"

"Dance here. Just dancing, that's all. Put on a show for some guys to holler at and walk away with your check for the night." It was an enticing offer to girls, such as Kagome, who had given up a lot of hope, Kagura knew, not only had she been there before, but she had also used this same speech to lure in a few others over the years. "All I need from you is a dancer. You have my word, no sex, no private shows unless you want to." '_Then again, the money may be too much for you to ignore'_ Kagura thought with a smirk.

Kagome grudgingly accepted the deal and Kagura brought her inside to show her the dressing room as well as to meet the "boss" of the club. Kagome and the Boss exchanged greetings before Kagura filled him in on what Kagome was here for. The Boss looked at Kagura,

"Perfect, you know what to do Kagura."

Kagura took Kagome to a small room infested with different types of lingerie. Kagura grabbed a matching black mini-skirt (well, perhaps micro-skirt is a better word) and black, loose, spaghetti-strap tank top designed to expos her naval. Of course it wouldn't be a party without, why of course _black_ undergarments( under_garment_, sex appeal is increased when it's only a thong).

Kagome wanted to die where she stood. Her innocent look was forever shattered as she stood there looking like a corner-street hooker. Her long raven hair was held back into a ponytail for the time being which hung down right to the middle of her back. She was disgusted with herself and wanted nothing more than to just forget this place even existed and discover a different, more proper job, not this pure economic gain off of the sex industry. The whole placed smelled of alcohol, drugs and sex, a rather distasteful combination.

Kagura was going to have to "teach" Kagome how to pole-dance. Teach, meaning watching her as she did her best to spin around a pole while removing her clothes…come to think of it, did she really need the pole?

It was a slow process, twice Kagome had tripped walking up the stage and once she spun around the pole too fast causing her to fall over. Rather comical really, you wouldn't understand if you didn't see it firsthand. Eventually she let the music get into her she found her rhythm.

She let the music overtake her, letting her forget where she was or what had happened, freeing her mind to wonder harmlessly from topic to topic. She gently let one of the straps fall off of her shoulder revealing the tops of her breasts as they bounced slightly with each move she made. She pressed her frame against the pole, letting one of her nipples peep over the top of her collar; her skirt raising up from behind.

'_Here's something I haven't thought about in awhile, High School.'_ Kagome thought to herself has she moved her hips for skirt to sway off of her sides, exposing her tight ass, her thong slipping slightly with it, exposing some of the bear skin right above her womanhood.

'_Houjo and I didn't really end off well…and I haven't talked to my friends in ages! They must be worried sick! I guess they would have a right to be now but, they're all over the country…'_

Kagome arched her back against the pole, looking quite intoxicated and ready to burst from arousal, pressing her backside harder, wagging slightly. How in the hells she managed to become such an actor we may never know. ( I guarantee you a Kikyou-lover has an answer, "She's not acting, she's just a slut!" Wrong answer but a good try.)

'_Not to mention the fact that I haven't seen my own "cousin" in quite awhile…whoever said 'Blood is thicker than Water,' obviously never had to share a school with Kikyou.'_

She was on the ground now. She pulled the top off awhile ago and was now simultaneously pressing her rear against the pole and her chest against the ground, the cold grown causing her nipples to harden, sending small pricks of pleasure to the back of Kagome's mind. She wrapped a leg around the pole and twirled herself upward. The song was over and something was bothering her. Aside from the sin she had just committed and the small bit of pleasure she had gotten out of it which was equally disgusting. Something from her high school years was bugging her, gnawing at her, someone she was forgetting. She was zoned out at as Kagura congragulated her on a well-mock performance and stated she would start tomorrow. Something to do with her cousin, something about her cousin's boyfriend. She had liked him as a person and thought he was kind of cute…question was, why would she be thinking about this now?

'_What was that strange silver-haired boy's name?'_

The only thing she could remember about his was his hair and that he had been Kikyou's boyfriend…

_'…That and those cute ears…'_

_

* * *

_

End note: So? really bad? Well review it and tell me if I should stop writing about sexual themes. I dont like doing it ither. Its just for practice but erm since the reader is ALWAYS right, ill stop with sexual content for...two reviews? Anyone? ANYONE? Ugh...fine...


	5. Completing the List

A/N: Hey, ya'll, Chapter four is now up and ready to read. I figured i better switch into the hanyous' little adventure here but i tried to give it more of a comical view. Since i really am just at 75 on this chapter, i decided to post, knowing this will probably bore most of you. Knowing that, you may want to skip this chapter and say it doesn't exist, since i'll most likely re-introduce the main topics from this next time her have a part about the hanyous' incase your wondering when Kagome will be back, itll be next chapter, so unwind to my try at sarcastic humor, or dont and wait for the next part of the story. Kagome comes up with the next update and then we get into another writing block i normally have. So stay tuned if i dont turn you off here and we'll see what happens. For hose of you that can, Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha. That is a promise. I own nothing dealing with Inuyasha what-so-ever. To be honest, I really wouldn't want to either, considering that if I did, every fan-girl in America would be at my door trying to see him, and I don't need that kind of publicity.

* * *

Chapter 4- Completing the List

Scandalous Investigations

* * *

"_Goddamn_ it Inuyasha! I'm going to fucking _kill_ you!"

"It's your own damn fault for using it. Feh, '_If you can't stand the heat-_' Ow! What's the big deal anyway? Can't you just glue it back together or something?"

"Baka! You don't _glue_ a Bo-staff back together!"

Another one of those typical office days. The sun was outside, shining magnificently on all of the buildings and people, birds flew over the skyscrapers and monuments onto the horizon, beating their powerful wings against the wind, gliding forever onto freedom and glorious salvation. It was a day for ice cream, shopping and indulgence. The kind of day that awoke everyone with a startle and gave a rush of energy to the citizens of Tokyo, propelling them throughout the day, subtracting any small infractions from previous affairs. Truly, this was an ideal day for most people.

Of course, how much fun would it be if Tokyo's favorite hanyous never had anything to get upset about?

Tetsuya and Inuyasha were in The Department's multi-purpose sparring area. It was multi purpose for two reasons. One, Agents and other police officers could use it hone their brawling or martial arts skills. Two, the floors and walls of the room didn't dry as quickly so there was plenty of time to clean up any blood that was shed upon them. Not that the two hanyous had _ever_ done _anything_ to convince the Chief of Police that they needed this new addition to the complex.

Today was the two hanyou's close-quarters practice day. It was the only time Inuyasha ever witnessed his partner lift a weapon that didn't come with a trigger. Inuyasha was sporting a silver tank top (Not to be portrayed as the same kind as Kagome's from the last chapter), with matching red warm-up pants. Tetsuya was wearing a black T-shirt and gray warm-up pants. How silly would they look if they were dressed in the same training gear?

Of the five, sometimes six days, a week that Inuyasha had to put up with Tetsuya, Wednesdays were his personal favorite. They were only improved when the sparring area had on-lookers, eager to see who would win the week's confrontation. Would it be Inuyasha, The Dog of War or Tetsuya, The Bird of Prey?

The question was answered a little while back. Again, Wednesdays were Inuyasha's _favorite_ days. The last time Inuyasha had lost one of their close-quarters competitions was exactly fifteen weeks ago, after Inuyasha had contracted the flu, yet refused to even acknowledge the virus which had infected his body. Even during Inuyasha's extreme weakened state, the match had still been a close one, ending after Inuyasha had vomited his morning "breakfast."

Speaking of which, Inuyasha's eating habits weren't exactly model, if even tolerable, for anyone else. The amount of ramen that the hanyou consumed was alarming and downright shocking. One time Tetsuya had stayed over at Inuyasha's apartment for a night, in order to go over a case they had been given. During the course of four hours, Inuyasha had eaten to boxes of ramen, totaling forty-eight cups of ramen, enough to induce a heart-attack on an elephant. Considering that was only Inuyasha's dinner, midnight snack, and breakfast, that much ramen was alarming since Tetsuya didn't get to see Inuyasha's brunch, lunch of mid-afternoon snack (That's not to say Inuyasha didn't eat other things from time to time. He was actually quite fond of steak and pork as well as the occasional leafy green, when it was shoved down his throat of course). Tetsuya often reminded Inuyasha that if he wasn't careful, he may become what he loves so much. It was almost to be but the recent incident with the neko-youkai proved that the noodles still hadn't transformed it yet.

"Don't you have almost five of those things now? Why do you care about one of them when there's four more at your house?" Inuyasha asked casually, his side to Tetsuya.

"That's not the point dog-boy! This was a gift I had received." Tetsuya replied, fake tears welling in his eyes, "It was my prized possession and now you've split it in half."

"Goddamn it." Inuyasha muttered under his breath before bellowing, "It's a _stick_ Tetsuya! You can find one in any park right around here!"

Inuyasha had severed Tetsuya's Bo-staff with his Tetsusaiga during the skirmish. While Tetsuya was preparing an attack, Inuyasha had swiped at his head, cutting a few blue strand of hair off of Tetsuya's head. Tetsuya had miscalculated the power of the swing and used his staff to block it. The results were quite obvious.

Tetsuya threw the two halves of his weapon to the ground and strolled over to Inuyasha grabbing one of his ears and pulling him hurriedly to the elevator.

"Come on mutt, we have work to do remember?" Tetsuya said, obviously trying to leave the room immediately. Inuyasha struggled out of the painful lock Tetsuya had on him, managing to break free once they were inside the mechanical marvel.

"Feh! You're just saying that cuz' you know you lost." The statement was only half-true though. Inuyasha wanted to get on with the investigation as well. They had "interviewed" the third human victim's girlfriend yesterday and found a connection between her and the young neko-youkai's boyfriend. The two were seeing each other unbeknownst to their respective partners.

Inuyasha grinned as he remembered full well the "interrogation" of the little bitch.

"_Ma'am, I think you've made some mistake. We really haven't met before!" Tetsuya shouted as the girl clung to him, positive he was her lover from the past night. He was trying his best to remove her without hurting her but she kept bouncing back to him like a piece of elastic._

_She giggled softly and looked him in the face, her eyes glazed over, the smell of alcohol encamped in every part of her speech._

"_Don't try to deny it just because your little friend is here." She giggled softly again turning her line of vision toward the Inu-hanyou. "You didn't mention anything about him before but…I guess if this is the kind of thing you're into…" She said with a look of ignorant innocence and curiosity on her face._

"_Inuyasha! Stop standing there with your dick in your hands and __help__ me-" Tetsuya was caught off as she attempted to kiss him. Her coordination was lacking sufficiently however so she aimed over his shoulder and almost toppled them both over. "Get her __off__ of me!"_

"_I don't know Kuzuki…maybe we should mention this bit to Miroku too since we see him later." Inuyasha replied with a smirk on his face, his masculine figure leaning against the doorframe to the apartment. "Seeing as how your infidelity might be more interesting than my lack of control, maybe you'd like to strike a deal?" Inuyasha inquired, wiping away his smirk and replacing it with a thoughtful expression._

"_This is no time for games Tadashi. Just help me out over here!" Tetsuya shouted. His eyes began to twitch as the female before him started massaging his shoulders and pressing her head against his chest with an unnecessary amount of force, muttering something about his size and skill in bed. _

"_Alright, suit yourself." With that Inuyasha walked out of the apartment, closing the door behind him leaving a very intoxicated female and nervous hanyou alone._

"_Aw, too bad, looks like he left." The girl let out a sigh. "I was looking forward to you both too. Oh well, his loss." She said as she went back to "seducing" an obviously not interested Tetsuya. That is if you consider the dance moves of stupid, intoxicated, college age females seducing._

_Tetsuya's eye just twitched as she attempted to kiss him yet again, putting his hand up to try and stop the lunging of her mouth and the perpetual movement of her tongue._

"_Inuyasha…" Tetsuya half said, half sung, hoping the Inu-hanyou was outside the door waiting. Once no reply came he knew Inuyasha was seriously down waiting at the car. He gathered up his strength in an attempt to signal the hanyou._

"_INUYASHA!__"_

Inuyasha pressed the button for the bottom floor.

"So," Inuyasha began, his ears twitching nervously as the machine slowly crawled down the shaft, seeming to nip on every loose and rusty bolt, causing small screeches to erupt every few seconds. "Anything on record about this guy?"

The elevator halted for a split second, then continued its falling from floor to floor.

"Not too much." Tetsuya replied. "Although there was one arrest that I can remember, the only one if I'm correct." Once again, the elevator halted. Inuyasha growled slightly, remembering that Tetsuya had been the one to drag him on the damned thing in the first place.

No one was really sure what the problem with elevator was. For some reason after the maintenance workers went on strike, its condition had started to deteriorate. Curious.

"Fuck this!" Inuyasha shouted as he tore a hole in bottom of the elevator. Inuyasha jumped through, letting his hair flow behind him as he fell from sixteen floors above the ground. Tetsuya sighed at the rashness of the hanyou but followed him anyway relaying information to Inuyasha as they floated through the elevator shaft.

"Seems our target was arrested three years ago on attempted assault and drug possession. Nothing too bad, if you figure the Opium out of the equation." Tetsuya shouted as they neared the ground floor.

"Let me guess," Inuyasha started as he hit the ground and his hair settled slowly around him, "Old habits die hard?"

"Or not at all." Tetsuya said landing a foot behind Inuyasha. "Drug users typically tend to relapse but, it normally happens on a different drug. So I'm guessing he has an idea of where to find this damn drug, or at the very least, where we can get a sample."

"Uh-huh, I see where you're going with this but how the _hell _are we gonna to get him to tell us this stuff?" Inuyasha asked, using his demonic strength to force the elevator doors open.

"Oh that's an easy one." Tetsuya said, chuckling as he walked past Inuyasha, who was still holding the door open.

Tetsuya turned his head and looked at Inuyasha.

"You're going to seduce him."

At the moment, Inuyasha's strength gave for a brief moment and the doors of the elevator closed right in front of the distressed hanyou's face.

* * *

"How the hell am I supposed to do this Kuzuki!"

Inuyasha was draped back in his normal clothes fuming as the Fushichou-hanyou next to him explained the plan with a slight smile on his face. The two were in Tetsuya's car three blocks from "The Boyfriend's" apartment.

"Look Inuyasha, all you have to do is go in and admit to him you've been stalking him. Then get inside and sit him down in a chair, letting him feel your warmth of your breath as you press against his body…"

Inuyasha quickly swatted Tetsuya on the head. He couldn't believe what he was going to have to do. He had to seduce another male? What the hell was he supposed to say? 'I noticed you from at the bar last night, I couldn't help it as you gorged yourself on cheap beer and Doritos.' This was quite literally the _gayest_ plan Tetsuya had ever come up with. Considering the fact that _gayest_ isn't an actual word, the plan was _really_ fucked up. Not that Inuyasha had anything against homosexual people or even happy people. Inuyasha just wasn't gay nor was he a generally happy.

"You know, I get the feeling you're enjoying this just a bit too much." Inuyasha snarled as Tetsuya rubbed the bump on his head.

"Inuyasha…" Tetsuya whined, his eyes closed in "agony." Then his eyes popped open and he yelled at Inuyasha, "You're damn right I am! This'll teach you for leaving me with that intoxicated human ignoramus. I still can hardly believe you'd do something like that. That girl was absolutely _repulsive_! Honestly, who goes _that_ long without a shower?"

"Feh." Inuyasha just shrugged and turned his back to Tetsuya the best he could in the sports car's leather seats.

"Seriously, stall him for a few moments while I come up and constrict him. His apparent link to this case and the overall importance of the case in general allowed the lieutenant to get you and I a pardon for this."

Inuyasha let out a wide grin. A pardon was just a fancy way of saying that he could kick someone's ass and not get in trouble for it. He began debating all the possible situations in his head. What if Tetsuya's plan "failed" and the man became defensive.

'Well then I guess he won't mind losing a couple…no, no, no, a dozen teeth.' Inuyasha thought with glee. It had been nearly two months since the last time he had gotten to fight anyone but Tetsuya. He REALLY needed to release some frustration and emotion. The face of some unluckily perp was normally his usual outlet. Inuyasha opened the car door and walked out into the bright sun.

"Inuyasha, wait."

Inuyasha turned to Tetsuya, who was eyeing him with hidden concern. For a moment, Inuyasha thought they might have another bonding experience, similar to the one they had on their first case, something to bring them closer together, almost like brothers. Tetsuya reached behind him and pulled out and orange object, then released it into the air. Inuyasha grabbed the object in the air, brought it down to his waist and examined it.

A carrot.

"I thought you might need a little help garnering an erection for this." Tetsuya said, smiling brightly as he held up Inuyasha's katana. "I was going to give you Tetsusaiga, but I thought that might be pushing it."

With that, Inuyasha tucked the carrot into his pocket, waltzed over to Tetsuya's car, gave it one good scratch with his claws and bounded onto the rooftops toward the apartment complex.

* * *

_Tap. Tap. Tap._

Whatever the hell that sound was, it had to fucking stop. _Now_. Oh well, they would go away as long as he left it alone. Right?

_Rat-a-tap-tap. Rat-a-tap._

The man let out a small groan as the noise emerged from the silence within the room once again. All he wanted to do was sleep. He had suck a wicked hang-over from the night before. He had almost gotten lucky with some girl until her body rejected the second hit of the drugs. '_I guess it wasn't to big a loss_.' He thought, ' _She really didn't seem like a good fuck anyway_.' He had found someone else anyway.

_Rat-Tatta-Tap-Tap. Tap-Tap._

He pushed himself off of sofa and made his way to the door. It was already two o' clock and he still hadn't bothered to change out of his white undershirt and jeans. He glazed over the empty bottles on the table and wondered how he had still drank so much after the party. The Boyfriend then opened the door and found, quite to his surprise, a very nervous and timid Inu-hanyou.

"Can I help you?" Asked The Boyfriend.

'Goddamn you Tetsuya…'

Now was Inuyasha's time to shine. He would have to cast aside his macho attitude and all of his values for a short time. It was time to cast away the badge and become an actor. He raised a balled hand to his heart and averted the young man's gaze. In order to pull this off, he would have to utilize every move women had made during those crappy soap operas his mother had made him watch.

"Umm, yes, you see…" Inuyasha lowered the volume of his voice slightly and looked out of the corner of his eye and into The Boyfriend's.

'_Damn it! He won't be convinced if I don't look like I'm embarrassed…what to do…what to do! Wait!_' Inuyasha began thinking about the neko-youkai that had so easily seduced him. It wasn't entirely his fault though. He wasn't acting of his own accord, it was the whim of his sex drive. All demons were meant to give into it during Spring. They should be grateful he hadn't given into it earlier. Exactly who "they" was he still wasn't exactly quite sure.

Inuyasha remembered as he went hard when she had pressed against him, lust growing all over his body as her womanhood pressed roughly against his enraged member. Her breasts that screamed to be freed, moving against him as she traced his neck with hungry licks and kisses. He had almost moaned when she had painted his lips. Though, had he done such a thing, he probably wouldn't be on this investigation right now. He would still be back outside Tokyo with that damn youkai.

Inuyasha was clever, cunning, resourceful and had moments of intelligence when he felt like it. The only drawback was that he couldn't be anymore than one of those things at any given moment. So was Inuyasha clever for finding a way to promote a tinge of red all over his face, he was also lacking severely in intelligence for dropping his act when forgot where he was and what he was doing to remember the incident.

"What? What do I see?" The man shouted after waiting patiently for five seconds, snapping the hanyou back into reality.

"Oh! Right, well…uh…" Inuyasha hesitated, wondering what he should do now. This man might be on to him…or maybe he could use it as an excuse as to why he had to go into more aggressive resolutions.

"Oh screw it! Come here you little-" Inuyasha yelled throwing his fist into The Boyfriend's stomach, propelling him onto the table, splattering the bottles like insects on a windshield.

'_Oops,_' Inuyasha grinned, '_I forgot the plan._' Inuyasha cracked the knuckles in his right hand and went in to do Tetsuya's job of "detaining" the suspect..

* * *

"You know, you didn't have to black him out. You could have just tied him up." Tetsuya informed, shaking his head in dismay.

"Feh, it worked a whole a lot better then your plan. That's for sure."

"So I see." Tetsuya remarked sarcastically.

Below them, the man in the chair began to wake and Inuyasha grabbed his hair. He shook the man and soon he was fully "awake."

Tetsuya moved against the wall. He already knew Inuyasha wanted to question this guy his own way. Inuyasha _always_ did whenever they were under protection from a pardon. Still, it suited the hanyou well considering Inuyasha wasn't one to sit around and talk. He needed action, so the once in awhile chance Inuyasha had to forcibly turn a suspect into a type-writer, he took it.

"You ain't dead so ya better look at me." Inuyasha said as he sat on the table in front of the man. The man was obviously still in shock from this whole ordeal and wasn't able to form a sentence. He just kept staring from Tetsuya to Inuyasha, his mouth agape. The Boyfriend was finally able to say something after a few long moments.

"Who the he-"

Inuyasha grabbed the man's jaw, interrupting him in mid-speech. It was bruised from Inuyasha's pounding fifteen-minutes prior.

"I'll ask the questions here. You shut the hell up and answer me when I'm done. Got that?"

Inuyasha wanted answers and now. The pit of his gut was already telling him that the guy was just some patsy for the real operation. Hell, seeing this skinny mortal, he was probably the patsy's patsy. It didn't make a difference to him at the moment though. Inuyasha just wanted something, _anything_, to help this case. A person, a place, a name; something to do the four dead victims justice. He was going to get it from this guy goddamn it. He was going to or this man was going to die.

He would make sure of it.

* * *

End Note: Don't know if that put you all to sleep or not but i needed a new way of presenting the current investigation. So in case i just lost about 150 readers I'll apologize now for melting away your minds. Hopefully, next chapter will be much better since apparently everyone wants to read about Kagome, but from there on out and im pretty happy with the way the story moves so be ready. If any thing this is the random crevice in the great plotline shaped like a mountain.


	6. Or Is It?

A/N: Hey guys, I actually have to write these notes prior to the story so I don't leave anything out this time. First off let me thank everyone for their wonderful reviews. Most of you know how good it feels to wake up at seven in the morning to get ready for school, opening your e-mail, and getting five from saying things such as "Blank has added you to their Author Alert List" or "So and so has submitted a review, click to reply." I am a new writer and don't consider myself highly enough to avoid responses to the few reviews I get. I DO read them and I try to reply to all of them, with that, my sincerest apologies to LoVe23 because I'm pretty sure on one of the two reviews she left, I didn't respond, school-work and such. Anyway, this has been a really busy week for me but is finally starting to calm down. As for the weekend, I don't see another update besides this chapter, depends on if I finish my Lab for IB Physics. Rest assured, after this you should have a new chapter by no later than Wednesday. Still I may not update considering I need my sleep. The writing for this all gets done around Eight to Two in the morning Eastern Time so I don't get much sleep. I'll just take my weekends off like most writers and make sure you guys get your story. Deal? With that, today's chapter transfers time a bit, don't worry, we should go back to check on our Two hanyou's soon enough. Btw, I use chapter titles that might make no sense. They actually allude to different parts of the chapter or prior. So next time you don't know why the hell I named a chapter the way I did, just think about what's being written or what was written about the chapter's main character in a previous chapter or title.

Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha, the logo, characters, original ideas or other anything else. All previously mentioned names and such are under the control of their respective owners. On the other hand, if I DID own InuYasha, you can rest assured that I would kill her a _second_ time now and _not_ defy the gods to bring her back. Honestly, how many times does someone have to die before they realize that _no one _really wants them there?

* * *

Chapter 5- Or Is It?

Scandalous Investigations

* * *

How a person's perception of neon changes over time is simply remarkable. Children often think about the wondrous multi-colored gas that exists within those glass tubes. The gas which illuminates the night sky, bringing bright colors upon the Earth's dreary nights, setting a stage of magical implications and glorious observation. To be a child on this night, on this road, would be a Divine gift. Arrogance. Ignorance. Such is the folly of children. They grow overjoyed by the mystery that eludes them, only to discover the truth on the worst-circumstances, thereby dropping the childlike innocence humans generally never keep.

Kagome quickened her walking pace, then decreased it, and accelerated once again to the florescent sign she had seen once before. The events from last night still vivid in her head as she contemplated seriously taking this job. Was she really willing to lower and degrade herself in front of pure human scum for cash? Was she now a whore? She was now selling herself to make money was she not? Although, according to her "employer," she was now a dancer; not a prostitute. Ironic that exotic and erotic have only one different letter though.

Kagome turned down the alleyway and stopped suddenly to make sure no one was following her. It wasn't that she had sensed anyone, as a matter of fact; she hadn't sensed anyone on the entire way from her apartment. It had been eerily quiet, as if no one existed in this part of town. Still, she was nervous and jittery, still uncertain about what she needed more at this point. Her dignity and self-respect or the money.

'_Oh let's see Kagome…'_ She was mocking herself in her head, trying to get a better understanding of the situation. '_Self-respect will get you a pat on the back and "A" in Physiological Education as money will get you, oh, I don't know, what you need._' She bit her lip, a nervous reaction that was hard to break.

She needed the money. She _really_ needed it.

Kagome opened the door to The Neko-Niche, brave and determined to not let this job get to her. She was going to make it work and do what she had to survive. She would save up enough money, and then maybe she could get out of this hell-hole and never have to step into a place like this again. Kagome was going to live out her life as she was supposed to, having two kids, a handsome husband and a gorgeous house on the beach.

Kagome turned the first left inside and went up to the second floor as she had done with Kagura before, looking to see if she could find Kagura and get an idea of when she was supposed to start her "work." Kagome decided to check the dressing room first, seeing as how she had to go in soon anyway. Upon opening the door however, she was greeted by the small giggles of a gathering of women. Their tones were sharp and they looked proper and professional, to the degree that one can in this line of a work. They dressed in various outfits and costumes, ranging from things a common hooker would wear to some lingerie such as the infamous "French maid" dress (yeah, how I know about that…well, it's actually _quite_ the sto-). The women's voice grew gradually quiet as Kagome stepped into the room, her former courage removed, exposing her bare and bounding timid ness she so hated for everyone to see. She tried to be friendly, offering them a slight smile which was silently refused.

"Ehh, Hi everyone." It was supposed to be an exclamation but her voice had grown quiet as she had gotten closer, noticing exactly what their stares meant. They were noticing her which was good yet on the flip side they were loathing her. They hated her kindness, despised her innocence, and were disgusted by how timid she was. More than anything else, her hair, her beauty, her shapely figure and succulent seeming breasts, which one of the women seemed to notice quite quickly, they hated Kagome because she was Alive.

"Kagome." Called a voice from the room which contained the various outfits. Kagome walked the distance toward the room, time seeming to stretch onto oblivion as she felt every eye, every one of the twelve, watch her as she headed off toward the storage.

"Here. I want you to where this tonight." Kagura said as she handed Kagome her clothing for the night. "Sign up on the sheet next to the lockers for your show time. We're short handed tonight so if you want to earn a little more tonight, talk to me and I'll let you waitress some of the tables tonight." Kagura didn't turn to look at Kagome the entire time but there was an odd tint to her voice, a fondness in a sense, a sort of maternal shade to it that made Kagome feel better about this.

"Thank you Kagura. That would be nice." Kagome said smiling slightly before adding, "I really appreciate it."

Kagura simply scoffed slightly implying that Kagome should hurry along.

Kagome strode out of the storage room, still slightly smiling as she passed around the group of women still eyeing her. For that brief second, she didn't really care that she wasn't in their little whore clique. If they wanted to hate her for trying to survive then so be it, she just wouldn't talk to him. Kagome turned her head slightly as she passed to see one of the girls smiling at her. In the next second she was relieved, relieved to know that there was some chance of her being accepted by these people she would have to deal with for awhile.

Wait…what?

Kagome set the clothes down on the small bench near the locker Kagura had assigned for her the previous day.

'_Wow, this seems oddly familiar. Can anyone say "gym class"?_' She remarked in her head.

Kagome opened her locker and her mouth fell agape. These women, her "co-workers," had gone through all of the trouble of making sure she knew her role in this fucking place. Before she even started her first day on the job, they had taken markers and scribbled remarks all over the inside of her locker. There were a couple sentences here and there but here are a few of the ones that stood out the most in her mind.

Whore.

Slut.

Bitch.

Tramp.

"College just didn't fuck you well enough huh?"

Kagome just stood there, letting the words sit still within her locker, afraid to move or show the slightest emotion. Her mind and body were clashing, her conscience telling her to move and prepare or at the very least do something, her body refusing to move, only allowing tears to form in her eyes. The woman hadn't been smiling at her out of friendship; it was out of cunning and evil. The women finally began to leave the dressing room and Kagome had waited until the last one had left, shitting the door behind her. Kagome fell to her knees and let out small, constrained sobs. Eventually she got back up and changed into her outfit for the night, a dark-blue micro-skirt, the same black tank top, tailored slightly so that it was much looser, black arm warmers and matching white and green undergarments. She felt like a whore and not she was going to have to go dance like one. '_This'll be just like last night._' She told herself. '_I'll just distract myself and then it'll be over in no time._'

Kagome signed the last remaining spot on the sheet, wiping away the rest of her tears. Then she went downstairs into the decently populated main room of The Neko-Niche.

* * *

'_I swear, if one more guy hits my ass again, I'm going to…' _

Waitressing wasn't exactly what Kagome was expecting, or what she was hoping. It was her job to go to her four tables, find out what kind of alcoholic suicide note the guys or girls wanted, retrieve them from the bar, then run the beverages back to the tables, all the while getting groped and hit on by horny, rambunctious men who were obviously _not_ sober. The first time she had thought nothing of it and tried to get over to the bar after stumbling slightly. However, the fourteen other times on the way back were a different story entirely. On her fifteenth trip to the bar in twenty minutes, she finally let some of her anger slip through.

"Two of the houses specials." Kagome said dryly, slamming the serving tray down on the counter. The barkeep just looked up and smiled at her.

"You're new to this aren't ya?" She said, slightly amused by angry girl in front of her. The bartender was female and human as well, giving at least _some_ sort of common ground.

"Yeah…" Kagome answered, shifting her eyes to the left slightly. "I'm not used to all of this-" Kagome was cut off as another random guy massaged her ass for a few seconds before walking off toward the stage. Kagome shivered slightly, feeling the cold hand mere millimeters before her flesh. She wanted nothing more than to slap this guy right out of the fucking bar but, she was part of this now, so she had no choice but to let it go. "Attention." She hissed, finally finishing her sentence.

The bartender just giggled, putting forth Kagome's drinks on the circular tray. "Happens a lot around here, sometimes to me right before I get off." She smiled slightly and Kagome would never forget that. She was the first woman in the building to offer her any amount of kindness. "It's not gonna stop so you should just live with it. Of course, you can still knock some sense into them if you go too far." She hesitated before continuing. "I see you're a miko." The bartender said, her eyes looking directly at Kagome.

"How did you-"

"Waitress! Where the hell are our drinks?"

Kagome looked to her table to see the men over there pouting and throwing their arms around. She turned back to the barkeep, who in turn just shook her head and shooed Kagome along. Amidst the fondling of her rear and occasional men who took a swat at her breasts, Kagome made it back to the table. There were five drinks for four guys.

"Oh, I must have made a mistake…" Kagome stated upon seeing the extra drink, "Or are you waiting for some one to get here?" '_Great, first day and I've already messed up an order._'

"No ma'am, but…" One of the men opened his mouth into a sly grin. "You're welcome to join us here if you want."

'_What does he think I am? Stupid? Lets drug up the dancer, then we won't have to pay full price for a real whore…I may be new but I'm not an idiot!_'

Kagome held up her hands in defense and shook her head quickly. "Oh no, I still have too much to do before I go on! I couldn't possibly stop now."

"Don't be silly." The man said again, "Now one will notice if you take a break. Besides," his hand moved under the table and up Kagome's leg, feeling her inner thighs and slightly touching her womanhood. "You seem like you could…" He was cut off when Kagome sheepishly turned away and walked off toward another one of her tables.

She really didn't like this…again. She _really_ didn't. She could deal with the waitressing; she could even deal with being around people who hate her. But, she could _not _deal with these men that treated her like a piece of paper and not like a person. She didn't want to be a thing or a statistic; she wanted to be Kagome Higurashi.

There was something else though, something else that was a constant voice in the back of her head for the rest of the night, something that was begging her to let it out.

It was her wild animal, calling to be set free.

* * *

"Alright Kagome, you're up." Kagura said as Kagome walked up to the curtain.

'_Right, same as last time. Prance around a little, get some applause, and then walk off. Easy right?'_

Kagome strutted across the stage, ready to make her mark tonight and show the others that she could do this just as well. Of course, what would stripping be without some music to get her body flowing?

She moved around the pole, almost climbing it, allowing the crowd of men around her to take a glimpse at the stripped panties underneath her skirt. Then she began pulling the skirt down, slowly, teasingly, giving the men something to shout for.

'_Okay, so what was that guy's name anyway? He was…he was a demon wasn't he?'_

Kagome began crawling toward one of the men in the center, letting him gaze down her top, allowing him to stare at her round breasts with lust, as she stared playfully at him. She giggled slightly, pulling herself to the edge of the stage and almost into his lap. Kagome pulled the man up and closer toward her, sliding her fingers down his shirt and resting on the waist of his pants, a smirk on her face. However in the seventh circle of hell she had learned to act like that, no one really knew.

'_That's right, he was a demon.'_ Her thoughts were shifting back to Kikyou's former boyfriend. '_Heh, I should have remembered that judging from the ears and hair. She was really lucky to have him, he really seemed to care about her…I wish…I had someone to…'_

Her thoughts were interrupted when she realized _exactly_ what she was doing. During her though process, Kagome had moved to another man and allowed him to take off her top. After, she slip back on top of the stage and maneuvered around the pole again, mashing the valley between her breasts, which startled the holding of her bra allowing them to burst free, bouncing slightly. She had now grabbed the first man and sat firmly in his lap, maneuvering her hips, pushing against his erection, letting the bulge touch her womanhood through her panties giving her a mixture of pain and pleasure. Kagome moved one last time onto the stage crawling backwards into one of men at the table where the incident occurred. She wagged a little for him, almost begging him release her from the last of her clothes. _Then_ her conscience decided to enter. _Then_ she was thrust out of her thoughts about the mysterious demon who had dated her cousin. Not when she needed it, it was always when it was going to make her feel bad. _Always too late_.

It was lucky that the music began to drown out when it did. It gave her the perfect excuse to get the fuck off of the stage. She would have regardless of whether or not her performance was over. She walked off stage, avoiding the dumbfounded glances of the women who had so cruelly treated her before. Kagome exited stage left and immediately bolted out of the area into the hallway, turning into women's bathroom.

* * *

'_Fucking baka!'_ Her mind screamed at her. _'Baka! Baka! Baka!'_

Hot, salty tears poured from Kagome's eyes as she sat with her head over the seat, retching and expelling the contents of her stomach. She wanted to forget this whole night, what she had done, what she had felt, what she had wanted for a brief moment. It was too fucking much for her. She pulled back for a minute hoping her body had punished her enough. It didn't think she was anywhere near off the hook for the shit she pulled today.

'_You fucking whore!'_ Her body screeched as it forced her over the bowl again, trying to expel all of the shame and pleasure she had searched for tonight. _'Don't you see what you just did? You're exactly the same as all the others, even Kikyou!' _It was then that Kagome notice someone pull her hair back. Who? Who would even bother helping her now?

"Hey, it'll be okay." It was a voice Kagome hadn't heard before. "Just relax, try and breathe…" Now she was rubbing Kagome's back trying to get her to calm down for a moment.

Finally, after ceaseless torment, Kagome finally stopped retching up her disgraceful emotions. She grabbed some paper from the depository next to her, wiping her mouth of the excess shame that hadn't been discarded. She finally turned around to notice who was there. It was a woman, no more than a couple years older than her. She was one of the women who had terrorized her before "work".

"I have to say you put on quite a show." The woman said with a slight smirk.

Both the strange woman and Kagome moved out into the hall and sat on the floor. Kagome pulled her legs to her chest, unsure of what to say to the person who just helped her.

"It's always difficult on the first night." The woman said, turning her gaze toward Kagome. "Most girls can't even complete their dance right. Can I tell you something?" She didn't wait for an answer. She just leaned in close to Kagome. "My first routine, I fell off the stage and hit some guy's drink into another girl's skirt." Somehow that broke the tension in the air, causing both of them to giggle a little. "So, what's your name anyway?"

"It's Kagome." Kagome tilted her head slightly to glance at the woman.

The woman offered Kagome a slight smile,

"It's nice to meet you Kagome. I'm Sango."

* * *

End Notes: Hey! Sorry to end it there but it seemed fitting. Again, the chapter became scaled down due to the fact that there really wasn't any other place to end this if it went on. What almost ended up happening was that the story went further then seemed necessary and I wanted to find a good place to end. So just in case you're shouting at me, "WTF? 2nd cliffy? Why you do this?" I don't know...dramatic tension? Anyway, I promise next chapter will answer those two pesky questions you all must have. "WTH happens with Tetsuya and Inuyasha, and what happens with Kagome and OMG! You put Sango in the story! Omg I didn't think she'd be in it!" You'd think I'd make a story with Kagome without Sango? Idiots. I wouldn't be able to call myself a writer if not once did Sango say "Damn Straight" in the story. Anyway, just know both cliffhangers will be rapt up next chapter…I hope…unless I start writing and cant stop…like I did tonight…finishing this chapter in a record three hours for you. I would go ahead and edit it but I'm kind of tired, hence why my language dims at the end and I just did some minor editing, if I missed anything, report me. BTW: Notice anything weird about my writing? I tend to do a lot of things on purpose (or accident) so if you find anything interesting that you think I try to do, tell me, I'll tell you if I do or not. I'd like to know what I do subconsciously when I write as well. (If you can, do for all of the chapters). Hope you guys enjoyed chapter 5, I'm out of here! Good-snore


	7. Diplomatic Solutions

EA/N: My apologies for resubmitting this chapter, please ignore this, as the real update is coming within the next couple of days. I had to resubmit this because of some major issues within the chapter that HAD to be fixed...or else i most likely would have killed myself. Praise be to Anime that this is FanFiction and I can resend this if i have to. If i had left this as is, it would have been confusing for furture readings. My apologies for this. It had to be done. Blame my writing while drinking pure sugar.

OA/N: Well everyone, another update has been posted and I'm actually pretty pleased with it. I personally enjoy the extra time to garner my thoughts so this way works out well for me. In other news, snow has officialy made its debut where I live, giving me that Christmasy feeling in my stomach. Have you filled out your wish lists to Santa yet? Anyway, thanks to all my reviewers and adds. Seems im fairly popular, at this moment, I'm nine hits away from a 1k hit mark! Thats pretty impressive for me I think, considering im a horrible writer. Well heres the detective chapter I promised. Had to take a mroe serious tone to it in preparation for other chapters coming and My IAs to prepare for. Here you are, chapter 6 of the story. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha. All original characters and ideas are copyright their respective owners. All added characters are owned by I. Any similarity to any other character anywhere else is purely coincidental. Do not sue me. You will not get very much money.

* * *

Chapter 6- Diplomatic Solutions

Scandalous Investigations

* * *

Tetsuya watched as the Inu-hanyou began questioning their detained suspect. The whole thing seemed quite bizarre to him. Here they were, inside a now major drug distributor's house and there wasn't a single act of opposition against them. The guy was either very, _very _stupid or, as Tetsuya most feared, this man was expendable. In every case Tetsuya had investigated involving drugs; _every_ major distributor carried some sort of entourage close by. It was unheard of for such a powerful drug to be sold in Tokyo and not be protected; expendable or not. Tetsuya let out a small sigh before tuning his attention to the outside; looking through the sullied window he had entered from. He had arrived in the apartment moments after Inuyasha had completely ruined his "plan."

'_Well…maybe plan isn't the best word. More like a comedy skit for my own interest.' _Tetsuya wished Inuyasha had stuck with his original idea of a homosexual seduction. It would have done the job and provided him with a laugh. Although, after all the time he has known Inuyasha, how could he ever expect him to give up a fist fight for something like that?

"First question," Inuyasha snarled, gripping the man's face even tighter, "Tell me everything you know about the drug-trafficking going on!"

Tetsuya mentally put his hand to his head, letting out a small groan. _'You idiot. That was a damn command, not a question!' _Fortunately enough, the man was preoccupied with the burning grasp on his jaw to notice this syntactical error.

"I-I don't…know what you're talking-" The hanyou's grasp moved to the man's collar and Inuyasha raised the him closer.

"Shut up. When was the last time you saw your little _human_ bitch?" Inuyasha was deploying a strategy he commonly used during interrogations. He would combine physical pain with quick and confusing statements and questions. The overall stress exerted on a human mind would be enough to force the suspect to submit to the real question at hand.

"Who? What are you-wait, you mean Noriko?"

"Does it matter? Judging by your scent, I'm guessing you don't really keep track of names do ya?"

The stench coming from the man was absolutely repugnant, though, no one with half a mind would have dared comment on such a thing. For one thing, to comment on a suspect's choice of women or on his sex life was highly unethical. No one likes to have people comment on their sex lives; it's a personal thing and should be treated as such. Even more, The Department had a policy of keeping scent out of the discussion unless absolutely necessary. A few years back, a youkai was released from court after an officer had discriminated against her, stating that she smelled of "rotting corpses, just like the rest of them." Smell was a touchy subject in the courts but could no doubt land Inuyasha some community service on charges of reverse discrimination.

All the man could do was glare at Inuyasha, afraid to even answer the question since he understood now the hanyou wasn't interested in any of his answers.

Inuyasha took his free hand and put his fist to the man's right cheek, bruising the outside and causing him to bite down on his own tongue. "I ain't in the mood to deal with your dirty looks. Answer my damn questions and you won't get hit." Inuyasha smirked at the man before asking his next question. "So, _Shiro,_ whatever happened to your neko-youkai whore? I thought you two had run off to settle together."

Shiro spat on the ground, releasing the blood from his mouth. Then he looked at the Inu-hanyou.

"I don't know any fucking neko-youkai!" He shouted at Inuyasha.

"Bullshit. We talked her mother. She identified you as her boyfriend. Now, stop giving me your damn lip and answer my fucking questions before I get angry."

Shiro contemplated for a moment before answering. He needed to tell these guys something to get them off of his back. It wasn't like he knew anything that important anyway.

"She walked out on me awhile ago okay? She said I had my head too far up my ass to pay attention to her. She said she was sick of-" Shiro's mouth went agape for a split second but he soon closed it. _'Damn it.'_

Inuyasha shook Shiro a few times, attempting to get some more information out of him. Shiro had slipped up and he knew it. He knew more than he was letting on and Inuyasha was going to find out what the hell it was. Inuyasha flexed the claws in his left hand. They cracked menacingly has the rage built within the amber eyes of the Inu-hanyou.

"Listen to me you little fucker," Inuyasha growled into the man's face, "Tell me the whole damn story _now _and I promise not to claw your face off _later_!"

"Alright, okay! Just…look, she was tired of being around me. Said I was abusing her and…that she didn't want to take part in the "fun" anymore." Inuyasha had a quizzical look on his face, wondering what the hell he meant. Shiro read it like a book. "Some of the guys, and myself, used to take turns…"

Inuyasha threw the man against the wall, then rushed up and pinned him, holding his claws to the man's neck.

"You mean to tell me you guys used to gang-rape her!" Inuyasha roared into Shiro's face, "You sick, perverted bastards!"

A small and sickly smile began spreading itself across Shiro's face.

"Yeah, we did. You should have been there detective. She was such a whore, always crying out for me, begging for me to make it stop. She acted like it was such a bad thing, yet every-time I told her they'd be over soon, she never once opted to leave. She stayed in the house like a good-girl and fucked us dry like she was supposed to." His smile had grown even more, displaying his arrogance and pride in the history he had shared with the young neko-youkai. He looked hard at Inuyasha, trying to borough a way into Inuyasha's morality core, attempting to shatter it and make the hanyou hunger for what he had. Shiro knew damn well that it was, Spring, hell, everyone with-in a three-hundred mile radius knew it but, Shiro was going to exploit it and get the hell out.

"You should have been there demon. You two could have given us quite a show. She was always so wet, no matter how many times we tried to get her to…"calm down," she was always so damn aroused. Who are we to deny such a lady her natural rights? God she was a beauty; a firm ass, perfect breasts that bounced with every thrust. You really should have been there…"

Inuyasha's hand began shaking slightly. What kind of man did this to another being? It was more than that though. It was an issue of pride. He may have been a half-breed but he was still a demon. It embarrassed him to know that another demon could have been treated in such a way and not done anything. Even worse, it was a group of humans; weak, cruel and stupid humans. Inuyasha lowered his head to avoid his storyteller's gaze. The ignorance of man, the shame of his demon blood and the steady arousal growing from the discussion of intercourse were deteriorating his good mood. He gripped the Shiro's collar even tighter, still averting the cynical eyes in-front of him.

"So what happened after she left you?"

Tetsuya had asked the next question from his position in the doorway, noticing that Inuyasha was in no shape to question, only listen at the moment and that Shiro was just about to get to the information he wanted. Tetsuya had a hunch that Shiro was saying more than he wanted to and, if he could keep it up, Inuyasha and he may get more information than they had hoped for.

"Oh, she went out and led a grand life." Shiro answered, sarcasm woven between each word. "Turns out she led her life dream." Shiro smirked once more at the Inu-hanyou, "She became a slut, giving back-alley blowjobs and fucks for nearly nothing." Shiro stopped thinking and rushed the words from his mouth like a fountain, letting them flow into the back of Inuyasha's mind to devour his moral.

"She got a job working for some whore-house a little ways south of here." He leaned his mouth close to Inuyasha's ear. "Want to know a secret demon? When I came to see her, she was high as shit with the needle in her arm. She was even trying to buy the shit from me. She pleaded, _begged, _for me to give her what she needed to make it through the day. So…" The sickly smile once again opened and Inuyasha could feel the corners of his mouth as they widened.

"I gave it to her. We all did. Everyone in there fucked her after she shot up. You'd be surprised what these drugs could do to people. Just from the one hit I gave her caused her to completely lose touch with reality and let her enjoy all of men in her face. It was probably the best night of my life; to watch her take in all of those guys, five at one time, and let each of them experience all of the pleasure they could. You really have no clue how good it was, how good it feels to hold this power."

Inuyasha let Shiro go and he fell on his hind-side. Inuyasha was going to kill this guy if someone didn't stop him. He didn't care if he lost his job, was thrown in jail or whatever. This guy needed to die. _'Tetsuya, if you plan on stopping me, you better do it now.' _He thought.

Tetsuya wasn't a mind reader but, god be damned if he didn't let on like he was that day. Tetsuya moved towards Inuyasha and guided him out of the way. Tetsuya turned to look at Shiro, who looked content at the reaction he had garnered from the other wise silent detective. The deep-blue eyes of the Fushichou-hanyou starred at the man on the ground. His eyes void of emotion and compassion. Tetsuya drew the .45 from the holster inside his jacket and fired a round straight into Shiro's leg.

He cried in pain as the bullet penetrated through his knee-cap. Shiro's head outstretched to scream out against the action. Tetsuya quickly brought his hand over the man's mouth and kneeled down mere inches form his face.

"Listen to me and listen good Shiro." Tetsuya said, his eyes still void of any regret for what he had done, "Don't you ever underestimate me. I know you thought I wasn't a demon. That's why you whispered into the mutt's ears. I can hear you goddamn it. I'm getting sick of your in-cooperation and I need some answers. Where are you getting your drugs. Now."

Shiro just wriggled in Tetsuya's grasp, trying to break free from his hand and escape, despite the fact that he wouldn't be able to walk. His basic human instinct was taking, the one that told him to flee in front of the impossible, to try to evade death.

Tetsuya brought the handgun to Shiro's shoulder and fired again. He was rewarded with warm blood as it spurted from the wound. The spray from impact had splashed small droplets of blood onto Shiro's face as he screamed in agony again, masked by the oppressive hand over his mouth.

"Name. Give me a name."

Inuyasha only watched, frozen by the irrational outburst of his partner. Agent Kuzuki wasn't one to take such action on a suspect, no matter how irritating or cruel they may seem. Not only was it irrational, it was nearly a violation of their pardon to inflict such debilitating pain onto their suspect. The pardon covered only covered physical abuse like beating with fists or a "soft" object. The idea was originally conceived after it was apparent that many demons would only talk to interrogators after abuse. At the time, it seemed like a good way to remove some limits off of officers to get a job done but to see the policy's right used on a human was frightening, even if Tetsuya hadn't used a firearm.

What's more, Tetsuya had _never_ fired his gun upon a criminal. In the entire year Inuyasha had worked with him, Tetsuya had pulled his gun out a total of fifteen times and had only fired it at the summer festival last year. For the most part Tetsuya was a well-handled and well-meaning person. Sure, he could be a jerk but, it was always in a sarcastic or humorous way. To see him acting like this would be a shock to anyone who had known him for even awhile.

"I'm sorry, you must be terribly confused right now. You were probably so busy fucking around that you didn't notice my claws." Tetsuya said as he kept his hand over Shiro's mouth. "Yes, I am a hanyou. No, you're not going to die here. And yes, you are going to rot in a cell while your ass feels a sting every time you shower."

Tetsuya moved his pistol and pressed it firmly into Shiro's stomach.

"This is your last chance. If you don't want to feel anymore pain, answer my question and pray to your god that I like what I hear."

Shiro stopped struggling for a minute and looked pleadingly into Tetsuya's eyes. He was greeted by complete emptiness. It became apparent to Shiro that the game was up. There were tears in his eyes from the bullet wounds but he would have to focus long enough to give the detectives what they needed. Tetsuya removed his hand, allowing Shiro to share the knowledge he had.

* * *

They hadn't talked since the incident earlier in the day. It was surreal, as if it hadn't actually occurred. Neither of them could have possibly been that room could they? Nothing like that had ever happened before and, hopefully, never would again.

Inuyasha had taken himself home via rooftops after Kuzuki managed to obtain what they needed. He had figured Tetsuya would probably want to be alone after something like that. Still, what had possessed him to do such a thing? Inuyasha just shrugged it off and continued devouring the contents of ceramic bowl in front oh him.

'_Ain't like anything can be done about it now. I'm sure Kuzuki can "sweet talk" the lieutenant out of firing his ass.'_ Inuyasha thought as some misguided noodles strands landed upon his face.

Ramen. What else would you expect Inuyasha to eat after such a stressful day? Inuyasha would never just leave Tetsuya after a day like that unless it was extremely important. He hadn't eaten all day and he needed to eat something. Though "something" to eat doesn't necessarily mean six cups of ramen to most people, it was but a small meal for the Inu-hanyou.

Inuyasha's demon hearing heard the car pull up in front of the complex. It was about the time that Shiro had given them to seek out his supplier. Inuyasha groaned.

"He could have waited a while longer." Inuyasha strode over to the window, yelling outside at the blue car parked on the sidewalk. "He said _between _ten-fifteen and ten-thirty, not at ten-fifteen you baka."

Inuyasha leapt from the window next to Tetsuya. He looked like a mess. Kuzuki had bags under his eyes, some strands of his hair had fallen from their normal shape into his face and his normal happy countenance had vanished into a veil of sadness and regret.

"I figured we should get this over with now. If we can nail a supplier now, we'll have our kingpin in a matter of days." Tetsuya offered up a fake smile, trying to hide the sadness in his voice. "You know the work we're famous for. This won't be too hard."

"Feh. Fine." Inuyasha said, climbing into the passenger seat. Immediately after, Tetsuya entered the car and drove it west of their location.

Most of the trip was silent, aside from the occasional car that they passed. It wasn't an odd or uncomfortable silence, nor was the energy throughout the space tense or sorrowful. Inuyasha and Tetsuya were anxious to finally be so close to the end of this. It had only been a week but considering their reputation, it was a long time. When you put one Inu-hanyou, who has heightened senses of hearing and scent and throw in a Fushichou-hanyou who has some startling abilities of his own, it shouldn't take that long to find a case.

Take, for instance, a kidnapping case they had been assigned five months ago. A young boy in the Tokyo area had been abducted on a Tuesday, between seven in the morning and six at night. Tetsuya had begun questioning the child's teacher while Inuyasha dealt with the parents. Normally, partners wouldn't deal on the same case separately but this one case was an exception.

They had made a bet. Not a large one but one that Inuyasha couldn't afford to lose. The deal was that is Inuyasha could find this child before Tetsuya; he would pay for Inuyasha's ramen for two weeks. Count the amount of cups of finished ramen Inuyasha has eaten and you can see why this is such a big deal. On the other hand, If Inuyasha lost this; he would be restricted from ramen for two weeks. Tough call, eh? To make a long investigation short, Inuyasha's senses and Tetsuya's speed turned the bet into a tie. So, a true man of his word, Tetsuya bought the equivalent of two weeks worth of ramen for Inuyasha. Unfortunately, Inuyasha had to just sit there and watch it beg to be eaten for two weeks. They actually still argue about it on occasion. Apparently thirteen days, twenty-three hours and fifty-nine minutes and fifty-nine seconds isn't close enough to two weeks. Go figure.

The detectives pulled over to a curb, exactly sixty-meters from their target. Shiro had done well considering he had only been a tool to be used. As Inuyasha had originally suspected, Shiro was just a puppet of the puppeteer. A no-name party-boy and chain-smoker, Shiro had been in serious debt when he decided to distribute illegal narcotics.

It began small, miniscule profits from over-sea drug-lords, mainly from America, Mexico and South Korea, smuggling in cocaine, methamphetamine and raw opium. A few months in, Shiro was contacted to make a little extra cash from a demon. This youkai wouldn't give out their actual name but gave an alias codenamed: Katya. The name was ironic however, considering it was a name meaning pure in Russia, however, drug-trafficking is anything but pure. Back to the subject at hand, "Katya" had contacted Shiro, inquiring if he would be willing to push some "petty drugs" into the streets. Naturally, the story progresses from there. Many people try it, many people die from it, Shiro and "Katya" make loads of money and our detectives come in to clean it up.

Hardly simple. For one thing, it was obvious to the Medical Examiners, detectives and obviously the men behind it, that this drug was anything but petty. To raise death rates that high check pointed a new tier in stimulants and toxins.

Secondly, and one of the most important things, "Katya" was a Russian name. The idea of having Russians shipping drugs into Tokyo was a disaster as far as any cop or politician was concerned. To think that Eastern countries could be as careless as to allow drugs to be shipped form their ports, into Japan was a disgrace on both parties. Even more, what will be done if it turns out this "Katya" really is Russian? It's always possible that this person could be using a random name out of privacy and security issues but, if they actually were Russian, then the possibility of theories turned accusations and, accusations into actions would be a serious threat. Japan and Russia could start a war over who was to blame over drug rates. As farfetched as it seems, there are a number of underlying events that could influence this. As was mentioned earlier, World War Two didn't exactly happen as one might expect it to.

Tetsuya powered down the engine, letting the headlights and interior lighting shut off. The light of the neon signs flickered and attached themselves to the paint on the car, cloaking its appearance amongst the others who would seek this night to explore these buildings. After a few more moments of silence, Inuyasha spoke, relaying a plan he had been concocting in that one-track head of his.

"It's a woman. She is a youkai but she can't be that powerful. If we move quickly and move low we can take her and ship her back to HQ."

"Possibly, but I'm not sure if I want to send this on back right away. They might release her considering the amount of trouble I may be in once the Lieutenant gets a hold of me. It's best if we get some answers now as opposed to letting it all fall later. Just a few more pieces to this puzzle and we'll have what we need for the sting. Agreed?"

"Feh. You always undermine what I say." Inuyasha said, lowering his eyelids on the Fushichou-hanyou. "I guess, but you take lead. I…" Inuyasha looked down, trying to find the words to state his reasons.

Tetsuya only starred out of the front window. Inuyasha didn't have to say anything. He knew why.

Agents Kuzuki and Tadashi had passed through this part of town only once before and even then it was disgusting. Enlisted Men's clubs, Nightclubs, All-Night Bars, Strip clubs, Sexual-business clubs, nothing but alcohol, sex and clubs for nearly two square miles. Everyone dressed their part, the whores, the employees, the business men and the youkai Inuyasha had mentioned was no exception. Black-hair, particularly skimpy clothing (use your imagination), and the air of someone content with selling their body for money. Though, whether or not she actually did or not was not the detectives concern. They already knew she was a supplier and they aimed to bring her in. Whether she actually had sexual relations with various people for income wasn't their problem in the least. Still, one look and everybody who had been briefed about (at this point, no one) the incident outside of Tokyo would know why Inuyasha wanted to take rear.

'_Sadly though Inuyasha,'_ Tetsuya thought to himself, _'I may need the leverage.'_

"Understood. Follow in behind me. Ten meters and seven seconds. Go."

They exited the car, Inuyasha trailing behind by the agreed upon ten meters. Tetsuya was close to reaching the youkai. Luckily, he looked like a stupid human and his smell wasn't as inviting as Inuyasha's. If smell could be translated into words, it would most likely read "Back Off or Die." Still, when has a whore been known to pay attention to warning? Have you checked the average percentage of raped prostitutes lately? It's quite remarkable how stupid these people are really.

The youkai greeted him with a lustful smile. Twisting her body to him in an attempt to get him to stare. After all, curiosity leads to taste, taste leads to touch and touch leads to cash.

"Well, I don't get see a new face that much." She leaned up into his ear, "It's quite the night when we do though."

Tetsuya let a smirk show as he wrapped an arm around her waist.

"Let's talk waste time with talk. Shiro sent me. He said you might have something that I'm willing to pay good money to try."

"Well, well, what a surprise. What a naughty boy Shiro has been, divulging secrets like that. Oh well, I won't tell anyone if you won't."

"Probably, given the right…" Tetsuya lowered his voice into a sensual tone, "Incentive…**Inuyasha!"**

Inuyasha sprinted over to where Tetsuya was with the youkai. Their position was a bit unnecessary but that could be sorted out and used as blackmail later. By the time Inuyasha reached four meters and five seconds out, Tetsuya turned himself and the youkai around, cutting some of her clothing in the process.

'_Damn you Kuzuki.'_ Inuyasha thought as his mind began to lose its control over the dominant demon gene.

Yes, Agent Kuzuki was using Agent Tadashi. It wouldn't be the first time and its ethicality could be debated all up to the top but normally it wasn't a big thing for the two to do things like this all of the time. The detectives had never set up a plan that they had followed right to the very letter. There were always various last-minute changes one would make, normally just to get it done their way.

Kuzuki had cut off most of the top of the youkai's outfit (again, this where where imagination comes in. Doesn't matter what outfit I or you pick. The same shit is still going to happen) exposing her bare chest for the Spring infected Inu-hanyou to see. Inuyasha acted predictably, switching his control instantaneously and making a mad dash towards the youkai. At fifty centimeters out, Tetsuya deployed a barrier to keep Inuyasha from getting to her. Crude, yet effective considering in his demon state, Inuyasha's mind would be even slower than it normally was in terms of everything but combat (basically intellect and understanding), so he just sat there trying to slash away at the damn barrier, to no avail. Actually, if anyone had been there to see the event. It would have been quite amusing.

Kuzuki dispatched the .45 from his holster and used the arm to capture hers, holding the gun to the temple of her head.

"Don't speak. Shiro made it difficult for us, don't repeat his mistake. If you do, well…" Tetsuya paused to let "Katya" watch as the sex driven hanyou attempted to claw into his barrier, deliberately altering the strength to make it seem as though he was struggling to keep him out.

"You can see what you'll get. I know you're a supplier. You're going to tell me who, where you keep it, when his next inspection is, where he'll be and anything else you can blab before my barrier fails."

Tetsuya wedged the gun under her chin and pushed it so she'd look at his face. His eyelids were closed and he had a content smile on his face. _'Checkmate.'_

"It's Katya right?"

* * *

End Notes: Of course, thanks to anyone who's ever reviewed or added me, and thanks to anyone who even just reads the story. Your silent support is appreciated. Well, I'm going back to the grind. Expect another chapter in a week or less! I hope this chapter was more or close to your expectations. Sorry this is so bland today, im really tired. I had a big week. We'll hope to get some reveiws fom you guys, if not, I keep pushing. Out.


	8. Entering the Eye

A/N: My apologies for the (explicit) delay. I originally would have had this done weeks ago but emails and christmas and such. My sincerest apologies to SesshoumaruGal (she knows why). I had to post this now, it's been too long and besides, im "fairly" happy with this as is. It's long enough, "That's for sure" (crappy 4th season voice acting compliments of Karl). I'd love to say that i have more to say, but i don't. I did, but i don't now. As for the last anonymous I got, (If it was serious) that's kind of a plotline question that i can't discuss. NOt to be rude, I'm just tired and I've had too much to do this week. Atleast I got this posted. I'm not even sure if i wan't the reviews this time to be honest, I think i lost my writing touch and I'm just going to get flamed. Oh well, It's goos practice for the IA I have to do. Well, back to reading and conquering the Incan civilization and then writing starting monday again. The chapter is long enough, and seemed okay after my first edit so hopefully it hasn't altered while being transfered to my new computer. So with that, sit back, cringe and try to enjoy this next chapter. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha or any other brands, names or ideas stemming from InuYasha. However, I do hereby copyright my use of characters Hanako Amaya and Tetsuya Kuzuki on the principles that they extended from my mind far before I ever witnessed InuYasha. Also, if by some chance I do come across owner-ship of Inuyasha, I'll sell said Hanyou for…_**one-thousand Yen**_ (cue Dr. Evil pinky pose)…which incidentally…is about ten USD…hmm…

* * *

Chapter 7- Entering the Eye

Scandalous Investigations

* * *

Kagome and Sango emerged into the dimly lit locker room, laughing over inside jokes and sly comments from their previous agendas. They weren't supposed to be off for another ten minutes or so but business had diminished a tad, bringing in the temptation of early leave. Of course, the patrons had only left from _one_-face of the club. Most of the former attendants had switched over to another area, filled with noisy groans, muffled screeches, musky mammalian scents and much more that honestly really wasn't Kagome's concern, _for the moment._ There were more pressing matters she had to attend to such as changing out of her degrading outfit, computing her earnings per hour in the seven day stretch considering she only had until Tuesday to pay her rent, and most importantly, she was now laughing with the same woman who was part of the crowd that nearly made her first beginning miserable.

'_Well this is weird.' _Kagome thought to herself._ 'First she acts like she hates me, now we're getting along fine. Although, it's probably best not to look a gift horse in the mouth.'_

Kagome eyed Sango suspiciously, wondering if she truly was as sweet as she was acting. It could always be possible that Sango just had a trick up her sleeve, waiting to cast Kagome's esteem deeper into oblivion. Perhaps when they were talking in the hallway someone had come upstairs and messed with her locker even more. Highly unlikely, considering it was a hassle to travel eight feet on the ground floor when the night was in full swing. Why anyone would waste time and skin cells to travel through that crowd voluntarily was beyond her. It was even more probably that nothing was wrong and that Kagome was overreacting.

Sango looked at Kagome, confused by her new acquaintance's expression.

"Something wrong Kagome?" she asked with genuine curiosity.

"Oh, it's nothing, really." Kagome answered nervously. She was probably overreacting so why even bring it up? She strolled over to her locker and opened it, once again taunted by the cruel words which evolved into images within her mind. Was she really that type of person now? Had she really enjoyed herself that much down there? Why had she acted in such a way anyhow? Obviously it was part of the job description but, for her to go so far on her first day, what the hell had she been thinking about. The last thing she could remember was thinking about ears…ears and…a tail, no…not a tail, wait, maybe just the ears…you know what, it was only the ears. Kagome sat down and bowed her head, trying to ignore the humiliating message but more over trying to understand what she was thinking. Amazing, she had never had any alcohol tonight, or for that matter in her life, yet her mind felt as buzzed as the cliental still in the building. Whatever the hell they were selling at the bar, must have some pretty debilitating effects to intoxicate merely through smell.

Sango glanced over when she felt the bench sway under Kagome's weight. Not that Kagome was overweight or anything, quite fine weight-wise really but, everyone can feel the vibrations in their skin when someone sits close to them right? She saw, or rather, thought she saw why Kagome seemed so down all of a sudden. Sango had completely forgotten about the little stunt they had pulled earlier. Immediately, Sango hopped up from her place, concern growing in her eyes and worry clouding her emotions.

"Sorry!" She exclaimed, bounding toward the washroom, "Hold on, I'll go get something to clean it up!" With that, Sango turned the corner, disappearing from the labyrinth (well…more like walls, three walls to be exact) of lockers.

"Wait, Sango..." Kagome started, barely shouting. She wanted the degradation of her locker cleaned up of course but she didn't want Sango to look at her as though she was helpless to do it herself. Still, it gave her a moment to recollect what she had been thinking about.

'_No, it wasn't just about ears…it was…something about a demon, oh yeah, Kikyou's boyfriend.'_ She mentally rolled her eyes at the thought of her cousin. Kikyou couldn't necessarily be tagged as _evil _or_ mean_, simply a little-

"Here, I found some towels!" Sango bolted toward the inside of the locker, scrubbing vigorously at the words inside. She seriously must have broken the sound barrier. She had obviously started talking as soon as she came around the corner but by the time she had finished she was already hard at work inside. Curious. "Ohh, I'm really sorry, we weren't thinking when we did this, honestly! Its not that we think of you like this I mean, how can we when we hardly know you, its just, well…"

'_So what was his name anyway? Some sort of animal wasn't it? Kuma? No…Risu? Definitely not…Tora?'_

"We're pretty close-knit and the thought of someone new is a little weird. We didn't mean this, it's just that to us you're kind of like a-"

"Inu-" Kagome had begun thinking out loud, completely unaware of the energetic woman in front of her who was battling the evils that were inconsiderate words. To think, she had done it just the way nature had intended. With hand-soap. Think about that next time you go into a long cursing rant.

"Right! We think of you as-wait, no! Not like that!" Sango stopped cleaning for a minute to turn and look at Kagome, trying her best to calm herself down so she could relay how she felt. "It's just that, you're almost like a new born sister and…" She trailed off, unsure of how to word the rest of it. After an awkward moment, she finally let the words flow. "We just wanted you to know how tough things could be. We didn't think you'd take it so hard. We just…didn't want you to _completely_ be in the way and we wanted you to be mindful of where you are." Sango let a small smile show through, hoping Kagome's own offer was still available. She was quite pleased with herself really. She had redeemed herself and the posse and they could finally add another into their support group.

Of course, all of these feelings were dashed once she realized Kagome wasn't paying full attention to her. Whatever she was thinking about _must_ be more important that an apology at the moment.

'Wait, why am I even thinking about him? It's not like I've seen him in awhile and besides…he had been with Kikyou, he wouldn't even remember…' Kagome raised her head and looked at Sango, re-offering her initial smile, a symbol of future friendship and diplomacy. "I heard you Sango and yeah, I understand, I'm not upset."

Sango let out a small sigh of relief. She didn't really want the young girl angry with her, especially when they needed the extra help around.

Kagome lifted herself up and took the paper towels from Sango.

"Here, I'll finish this, it's my locker anyway." Kagome began washing in small circles, removing the grime from the inside with ease and precision.

Sango, her ultimate purpose of the moment taken from her, commenced to changing into her normal "street" clothes and by street, I don't mean the kind of clothes a hooker on the corner would wear. More along the lines of a pink blouse, with matching tan khakis. She glanced over at Kagome every couple seconds to see how she was fairing with the mess, slightly twitching from her guilt every time. After a few moments though, Kagome had finished and she too began from her overly abused outfit. Amazing how resilient the material was, to face numerous amounts of alcohol intoxicated patrons and not have a scratch on it. Of course, the same could be said about Kagome, for now anyway.

There was an awkward silence throughout the room as two changed at a slow, gentle pace. The switched clothes almost melodically, detaching one layer, without even bothering to so much as glance down at their forsaken skins. Then, they grasped the new layer of persona, whisking it lightly in the air to free it of any old history, after which they dawned on their garbs. After this ceremony, the unwanted silence was finally broken.

"So, Kagome," Sango said, still fixated on putting away her clothes, "You're a miko right?"

Honestly, what kind of question is that? In case you haven't figured out why this may be a controversial topic, rack your brain from your prior understanding of demons and Mikos and put it within the timeframe. Notice how there's been careful pains made as to not mention them. Any ideas as to why?

Of course from your prior studies, you know that Mikos often use purification powers to dwindle their enemies drive for victory into but mere memories. In other words, they obliterate their foes by combusting whatever anger or evil they possess. If that's still to complicated, they kill them. Youkai were, have been and are known for being some of the most angry, mean-spirited and all around discomforted sons of bitches on the planet. Now, it's also no small secret that youkai and Mikos _despised_ each other during, well, basically all of Japan's history from the feudal era on up. Part of the problem comes form the Mikos' ideological view that all evil must be purified if the human race is to ever realize peace on this Earth, or, on any other planet. Of course, priest and priestesses are often known for their more cynical way of going about this. Obviously evil is evil and nothing can change that. Purification as seen above allows that evilness to be deleted at the cost of the vessel.

Which is why the battle in which Kagome's grandfather had taken part in had ended not only with considerable losses to the agricultural youkai and the Holy Community but, it also stirred a political debate over the rights of priest and priestesses to wield their powers at will. Though it was true that they seldom wielded their powers against demons at all, they were still taking lives at the expense of their views. In reality, the Holy Community had actually been the ones to fire the first shot during the before-mentioned youkai rebellion that occurred shortly after WWII. It was not uncommon for youkai to be hunted down off of the pain island and purified in the name of the Holy Community. The debate ended in the restriction of purification powers to "under extreme conditions of self-defense." This same debate was used later on to grant youkai basic citizenship rights.

Kagome pivoted to look at Sango. "How does everyone seem to know that? First the bartender, now you?"

"Relax, it isn't a big deal." Sango assured. "We had a Miko work here once before. She was kind of-"

Sango never did get to finish her sentence. Not because some random man came in and raped her, and not because someone killed her. It was because there is no volume greater than that of seven females all talking in unison about very different shit.

* * *

"Get off!" Hanako said as she playfully pushed her mate over onto his back. She re-adjusted herself on top of him and gently began kissing his collarbone and unbuttoning his shirt. Sadly, temptation is a horrible and despicable tool that should never be used against any male in that position.

"Wait here," Hanako said, smiling at her now distressed mate. "I promise, let me go over this file one more time."

Hanako moved from the bed over to her home-office desk and opened the nearby file. It was the file on the recent investigations of Agents Tadashi and Kuzuki. Most of the files were maps and coordinates of where they had been and where they planned to be. Tetsuya had given her written for her a general overview that she could read tonight. He didn't see much point in her reading the entire ten pages that he had written up, especially when he knew what tonight meant for her. Hanako opened the file to the overview which she had read close to seven times now, mostly just to tempt her mate but, also because of some of the insidious plots that seemed to be taking shape in this case. Hanako read over a part that she had highlighted in her first reading.

…_**When we arrived (Agent Tadashi and myself) arrived at that section of town, we found a woman there who we determined to be Katya. After a small skit, she admitted to drug-distribution and illegal human trafficking (something we weren't expecting). She said she was working as distributor for one Dimitri Afon'ka. Afon'ka, as I'm sure you're well aware, has been on the most wanted list of The Russian Narcotics Agency for the past five years. He was the one behind the Iwaki-Tokyo incident three years back (file is attached within folder). Katya was also able to tell us where the customer-storage is located, some cathouse called, The Neko-Niche (rather intelligent name really). Perfect considering they can find buyers within the area and keep the supply all in a convenient location. **_

_**We received the reports on the drug an hour before this. The best way to describe it as such. Think of an injection of methamphetamine and multiply it to the point where the mind doesn't even know it exists. The body becomes a walking manipulation of whoever his nearby. In some cases, if the infected blood travels to the brain too many times, parts of the brain begin to shut down one by one. The stimulation is so high that in order to function correctly, the brain has to shut down one or more parts (ironic isn't it?). Often the first part to go (within 3 seconds to 1 minute) is the part of the brain that controls vision: vision begins to blur and a feeling of high takes over the nerves, auditory awareness also decreases as will reaction time. Anytime after that for up to three hours, any other part of the brain is fair game to shut down, it all depends on the amount of action the person commits.**_

_**As for Dimitri, he will be making an inspection on Tuesday to consult with the owner of the club and to make sure things are going swimmingly. What luck lieutenant, apparently Tokyo was his first target for this new drug so were the guinea pigs. Fortunately, this means he wants to make sure things go well and we'll have a chance to bag him.**_

_**Provided there are no outstanding circumstances, giving Inuyasha the next few days off. I need him prepared for the next phase and he needs the time to eliminate some stress by himself. The full report is included a few pages ahead…**_

Hanako closed the file and her eyes. She remembered fully well who Dimitri Afon'ka was. She had been assigned to that case with her original partner. It wasn't like she could actually forget the case, considering she strode around with a walking memory of it everyday. Still, tonight wasn't meant for dwelling on the past. She would completely go over the case file tomorrow and obtain a warrant on Monday. She was going to need the time with her mate over the weekend anyway. More than that, she would need him tonight. With that, she released herself from her work and waltzed back over to the bed and onto her well-aroused mate.

* * *

Inuyasha struggled against the covers in his sleep for what must have been the umpteenth time. He almost always fidgeted around when he slept, never actually sure why. He could have been uncomfortable, he almost always was. Nothing ever seemed to fit with him just right, nothing seemed to be just quite the way he wanted it to. If he was too warm, he would turn the temperature down by a few degrees. Shortly after, he'd either be too cold or Inuyasha would feel as though he had altered something that had significant importance. There were times when he would sleep on the ground when his bed seemed too soft, only to be greeted by regret and emptiness from the hardwood floors.

Another possibility could have been that Inuyasha was dreaming. Plenty of humans and youkai dream in their sleep, only to have the memory elude them the next morning. Dreaming is an essential part of life and occurs within everything, even within half-demons such as Inuyasha. The question is; what could he possibly be dreaming about? Inuyasha never really was one to tell people about his dreams. Honestly, wouldn't it be strange to have a six-foot something Inu-hanyou stroll up to you and begin explaining, in vivid detail, everything that he had dreamt the previous night to you? Inuyasha never told any of his friends or business partners either, not that he had many friends. His only two real friends were Tetsuya and Miroku and even they could be irritating some, if not all, of the time.

For about the third hour now, rays from the sun that hadn't been absorbed by the clouds, found their way towards the spot of Inuyasha's head. Rather, where his head would be if he hadn't instinctively thrown his sheets over his _four_ hours ago. It was a rather peaceful scene; the suns rays refracting through the glass, bounding off of the plastic coating of an alarm clock near Inuyasha's bed, eventually striking the chrome handles on his dresser causing a slight twinkling effect. Outside, the critters of the earth were singing their normal songs of the day; songs filled with anger, angst, regret, joy and love. Every part of nature, from the humans and youkai that walked the streets, to the parks inside the city, even on the rugged sub-urban land outside of the city limits, seemed to have a voice, a speech, something that drove the world on a creative and divine tune. It enabled the miserable and lonely to continue their day with long sought after determination and hope.

These sounds were outside and could not wake the sleeping hanyou within the apartment. These sounds were of no interest to Inuyasha, not because he did not need them but, because they were dreams. Music of the earth was merely a dream to Inuyasha and would remain a dream so long as he remained unconscious. It was nearly a curse, to dream in paradise and to acquire what he long sought after, then to live in reality thrust back into the world he knew. His friends often told him to "wake-up and smell the coffee" and he tried to. Everyday, Inuyasha would get up and reach out for his dreams, only to be greeted by his sheets or the air within the room.

Millions of questions can be asked about dreams and millions of answers can be given. Thousands of words can be said about dreams but, that won't further the story will it?

Inuyasha awoke with a loud groan, his ears pushed tightly to his head as his cell phone's annoying ring-tone vibrated around the room. Tetsuya had altered his phone before dropping him off last night, switching his phone from a quiet volume and replacing it with a socially-unacceptable volume and an annoying MIDI ring-tone. Inuyasha slowly removed his pseudo-cocoon, stinging his eyes with the first light of his day, and hurriedly hoped onto the floor. Much to his dismay however, Inuyasha tripped over his feet after they became tangled within a heavy blanket that Inuyasha had cast down earlier in his sleep. Inuyasha let his phone ring a couple of times before heaving himself off of the ground and slowly walked over to his phone.

'_Who in the hell is calling me?'_ Inuyasha thought, upset that his sleeping standard for the day had fallen short. The phone rang once again in Inuyasha's hand and the Inu-hanyou noticed exactly who was calling him. Deciding Tetsuya would constantly call until he answered, Inuyasha flipped open the phone can began speaking into the receiver.

"What the hell do you want?" Inuyasha more demanded, rather than question.

"Whoa, is that anyway to talk to your partner?" Tetsuya's voice came off as happy and jubilant as always. Numerous reasons could have been the cause but, Inuyasha had neither the compassion nor the interest to find out.

"Feh. I thought you were giving me some time off." Inuyasha stated, displaying slight irritation with Tetsuya, even if it was just a defensive ploy.

"I am and I did. But…" Tetsuya hesitated on the other end, unsure of what the hanyou's answer maybe. "I was wondering if you wanted to tag along for lunch this afternoon."

"What?" Inuyasha asked, tilting his head to the side. "What do you mean, _'tag along'_?"

"Yes, well, Miroku and I were-"

"Hell no!" Inuyasha screamed into the receiver. He didn't dislike Miroku; it was just that whenever the three of them went out, Miroku _always _did something to embarrass them. The last time they all went out, Miroku began hitting on one of the waitresses, problem being, she was seventeen and looked nineteen, at least, that was Miroku's defense. It more went something like, _"Wait! How was I supposed to know she was underage? It's not my fault she looks older!" _The girl had clocked him upside the head and dialed nine-one-one. The police came and ended up hauling his ass back to his own office. Still, the media ate it up. **Officer arrested by his own squad-mates. **

"Oh come on Inuyasha. It's been what, three months now? Can't you forgive him for making one mistake?" Tetsuya pleaded from the other end.

"One mistake? Try forty-five! He does that every-time we do anything. What about the last time he tagged along on an informant run? He almost cost us the whole damn thing!"

Well, that incident pretty much speaks for itself doesn't it?

"Listen, it's not too big of a deal and we could use him for Monday night-" Tetsuya began, only to be ever-so-rudely cut off.

"Are you out of your mind? Your going to let _**Miroku **_accompany us to a-"

"So, with that being said, I need you two to make sure you're both on top of the cooperative game. So I'll take that as a "you're coming along", we'll be there in a half hour, wear something suitable please Inuyasha." Tetsuya was answered by the Inu-hanyou's casual "Feh." Tetsuya grinned at the receiver, knowing Inuyasha would never know. "See you then Inuyasha."

"Yeah, yeah…whatever." Inuyasha was about to hang up his phone when a thought struck him. "Wait a minute, I never said I was-" By then it was too late and the line had gone dead. Inuyasha closed the hard plastic phone and walked off to get changed.

* * *

Inuyasha clambered into the back seat of the vehicle, cursing and muttering about the scarce leg room. The leather of the seat was lukewarm, a comfortable temperature for the hanyou to sit in, despite losing his self-predetermined seat to the despicable street cop. Above all else, Miroku wasn't a "bad" person though, some of his actions could be argued as such.

"Why the hell did you give my seat to that baka anyway?" Inuyasha half-asked, half-barked as he crossed his arms, addressing no one in particular.

"Why Inuyasha, is that anyway to speak about one of your dearest friends?"

Of course, such a statement could only come from the one and only Miroku. Honestly, could anyone picture Miroku _not _saying such a sentence with his charming smile glued to his face?

With that, enter Hisoka-Miroku, a marvelous beat patrol officer who works between the east and west sides of Tokyo. Ever since his initial acceptation, Miroku has proven himself to be an exceptional shot and is often contacted by Amaya's Department to provide long-range support or reconnaissance. Miroku is now in his second year working the streets, which, also includes the full year of basic training he underwent. Miroku is an all around caring and wise man, although his colleagues consider him one of the largest perverts in all of Tokyo and if not, the largest. He had a certain aptitude for hitting on just about…_every_ woman in Tokyo, so long as they had interesting physical features.

"Oh, give it a rest Inuyasha." Came Tetsuya's voice from the driver-side. "It won't kill you to sit in the back. Besides, Miroku pretty much pushed his way in." Finishing his statement, Tetsuya accelerated the car off of the curb and began toward their destination.

"Feh." Replied the Inu-hanyou. Inuyasha decided the argument would be pointless and he didn't feel like wasting the energy. "Where are we going anyway." Nothing could ever be an actual question for Inuyasha could it? Always a statement or a command…

"Somewhere that doesn't serve ramen hopefully." Miroku muttered, just quietly enough for the hanyou to understand it.

Of course Inuyasha is in near love with ramen, he ate it everyday so the thought of eating out someplace where he could not partake of his favorite food was simply a nightmare.

"Why not!" Inuyasha barked, actually uncrossing his arms, his eyes boring holes into the back of Miroku's head rest.

"Because we have things to discuss Inuyasha and it won't get done if your busy slurping down fifteen bowls of ramen. Not to mention the fact that ramen is generally unhealthy for you."

"You know old dog, he has a point. One package of those noodles you love so much contains your entire nutritional need of sodium." Tetsuya interjected in a "matter-of-fact" voice. "What's more, the caloric value of just one package is absolutely ridiculous!"

"Are you kidding me? If you two are just gonna cut out food like that, what the hell am I supposed to eat?" Inuyasha yelled between the two of them, genuinely upset about the ramen famine he would have to endure.

* * *

It was a middle of the road restaurant. It wasn't fancy, with the unnecessary amount of lighting or unnecessary ambience, nor was it dimly under lit, teeming with chain-smokers and drug abusers. It was mildly run, consisting of a general manager, a handful of "chefs" and about half of a dozen waitresses meant to serve a maximum occupancy of about one ninety-eight people. The menu had a fairly wide variety and, after much deliberation, the trio eventually found an item (originally would have been four items) to suit Inuyasha's pallet.

Inuyasha was the only one in the entire area to actually have a thirty-two ounce steak for lunch. Humorous if one forgets about the future clogged arteries and heart failure the thing could cause.

"So, Tetsuya, what exactly did you need us here for anyway?" Miroku inquired to his old friend, occasionally becoming bombarded by flying sauce and grease from Inuyasha's particularly messy eating habit.

Tetsuya set down the coffee he had ordered and began to speak, "I'm going to need a third one this one Miroku, hence why I called you. Not only do I know that we can all work together well but…" Tetsuya had to stop after getting hit in the head by a bone Inuyasha had carelessly thrown after gnawing further into his lunch.

"What the hell is the matter with you dog-boy!" Tetsuya yelled for the entire restaurant to hear. "Can't you see were trying to talk about something important right now! This isn't the time for you to be gorging upon your food like some rough barbarian you stupid mutt!"

Inuyasha raised himself from his chair directly into Tetsuya's face, still gripping the steak by both hands, grease running down his unprotected forearms.

"Quit gettin' into my business Tetsuya!" Inuyasha hollered equally as loud. "I'll eat anyway I want!"

So then Miroku came in to split the, now growling, hanyous down the center into their respective corners. "Ladies, ladies," He began, automatically garnering their attention. "This is no time for us to be fighting with each other. Let's all calm down. We have a lot of work to do ahead of us and…if…we…" It wouldn't take an imbecile to figure what stopped Miroku, pretty women walked in, although, pretty is in the eye of the beholder.

With that Tetsuya retook his seat and began speaking once again, but not before he clonked Miroku on the head once to make sure he was listening.

"Like I was saying, though it may be slightly strained, I know you two can work together. We really don't know much about the lay-out of the building and that means that we'll have to do some scouting individually that night. We need three people because if one of us happens to stray and something happens, one of us may not be enough. Also, ever since the little incident three months ago, we need to make sure there are no chemical weapons."

Tetsuya finished, picked up his mug and took a sip.

"Wait a minute Tetsuya," Miroku began. "What exactly do you mean chemical weaponry? Do you really these drug-peddlers have connections that deep?"

"No, I don't but, we should consider it, especially considering the case the narcotics squad in Kyoto wrapped up last week."

Inuyasha simply closed his eyes and took in the conversation, his mind drawing back to the investigation Tetsuya was referring to. Inuyasha had read, well, been forced to read, the news reporting on the case.

A five man squad in Kyoto had busted a local meth lab in the downtown area. Originally, six had been assigned to the case; one went in first as recon. After a three hour loss of contact (static coming over the radio and such), the squad burst into action, shutting down the lab. The one sent in for reconnaissance had been discovered and the "druggies" injected him with a near fatal dose of methamphetamine. He was rushed to a local ICU, nearly flat-lining on the way in.

Inuyasha was jolted out of remembrance when something hit him upside the head. Rectangular, black finishing, small rubber buttons on top of plastic coating, such a device had to be from the...

"Here. Department standard issue. It's a "hand-held map-maker" or something like that." Tetsuya said, gently handing the other one to Miroku. "Bring these with you when I come to pick you two up on Monday evening." Tetsuya eagerly pushed the seat back from the table. "Well, since I don't see any reason to stay here, I have some errands to run. I'll be back in a little while." Tetsuya left a card on the table for what would be a bill that would shortly appear then; he walked out and down the street, thus leaving the other two alone.

Miroku's head turned toward the lady that had come in after Tetsuya's departure, eyeing her shapely and curvy figure. She appeared around his age, possibly older, looked innocent, shy even. Suddenly a thought occurred to him, a thought revolving around a certain Inu-hanyou in his vicinity. Throw in words like Spring, release and moving on and you get the general idea.

"Inuyasha."

"Yeah, what do you want." Came the gruff response of Inuyasha, who had almost returned to devouring his steak, never daring to ask an actual question.

Miroku came over and slipped an arm around him, eyelids closed, talking softly and calmly.

"When are you going to move on with your life and find someone?" Miroku asked, keeping his composure solid.

"What kind of question is that!" Inuyasha growled out, pupils dilated and ready to strike down Miroku. Not that Inuyasha had brought a glock with him for just such an event or anything. Miroku simply turned his head and opened his eyes to look at Inuyasha.

"You know exactly what I mean Inuyasha." Miroku said, getting closer to the Inu-hanyou's face. "It's been three years now. The least you can do for yourself is let go and trail after something else."

Tadashi and Hisoka had the same conversation every time they met. Ever since his little high-school incident with a certain _person, _Inuyasha has silently refused to get involved with anyone else. Miroku was constantly questioning Inuyasha about it, considering he never actually told anyone what exactly happened. Not that he would have anyone he liked enough to tell. His half-brother was of little to no use conversation wise, his "friends" were flat-out strange and why bother paying an absurd amount of money to speak to a therapist? Still, even with the little information he had, Miroku wanted the best for Inuyasha. Which is why, being a man of scholarship in a sense, Miroku knew all about the troubles of Spring in all of its forms. Now, Miroku could be perverted and flattering at times, other wise downright charming but, he would never subjugate anyone into a crusade for intercourse (i.e. Miroku isn't pushing Inuyasha into a sexcapade. If you didn't understand what was outside the parenthesis…good luck with the world).

For the past year now, Miroku has made it a personnel assignment to push Inuyasha back into the world of the living and breathing and to find him someone, if anyone, to feel for.

Yes it's impossible but can you blame Miroku for trying?

"Can't you ever let anything go." Inuyasha said, pushing the officer off of him. "I'm fine. If I was really desperate I would have done something about it by now. The only thing I need is for you to just fucking drop it!" Inuyasha finished, fixing the wrinkles in his shirt.

"Come on Inuyasha, we always go through this and you never give it a chance." Miroku said picking himself off of his chair. "Give me one hour to help you find someone and if nothing works. I'll never bother you about this again."

"No." Inuyasha stated plainly.

"What if I promise to do your laundry for a week?"

"No, Miroku."

"Or if I buy your ramen for a week." Miroku threw in, completely aware of what he was doing. Or so he thought.

One can only imagine the state of awe Inuyasha was in. All he has to do is humor Miroku for one hour, which really wouldn't be that long, then he would get a week's worth of ramen for free. Inuyasha almost felt bad, considering he was about to swindle his friend. Almost being the key word.

"Hmm, in that case…" Inuyasha began placing his thumb and index finger on his chin. "I guess it wouldn't hurt. It's not like I'll have to act like you. I'm still not making any promises Miroku."

Miroku sat back down and got in closer to Inuyasha.

"Oh, I'm not worried and I promise you Inuyasha: in one hour, you'll have someone worth while and you'll be thanking me for this."

Dare to dream Miroku…dare to dream…

* * *

End Note: Review...don't review...prefebly don't...since I'm really not that confident. No, this is NOT a ploy to get reviews or comments. I'm seriously dreading reviews. I've got the next idea. Tell me if I should bother continuing. (Paradoxical isn't it?)


	9. The Deep Breath

A/N: Yo-ha. Here's the deal people, I've got the next week off so definintly expect a chapter by next week. As an early warning, if you get confused during the next chapter or so, message me and I'll tell you whats happening. If you're intelligent to figure it out on your own, hen-hao reader. Again, next chapter, not this one. Well I'm fairly pleased with this chapter, minus the first sixth or so, thought I refused to edit after writing because i just couldn't. Everything else is fine by me. Even so, it matters what you think, not me. Hopefully you all like it and if you don't...well...then we all know where this stopry goes. Anyway, enjoy for now, since it all fits snuggly into the next chapter or so. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha or any characters pertaining to the Anime or Manga. I do however copyright the two original names featured in this work of fiction. Any use of them must have my written consent. Also, to anyone who may own an Inuyasha outfit or an outfit of any other character in reality, please do not wear them and post the video on file sharing sites. You people really hurt my eyes.

* * *

Chapter 8- The Deep Breath

Scandalous Investigations

* * *

Miroku quickly and elegantly clipped the chrome prongs of his sunglasses open, dawning the metallic frames with grace and embarrassment. He always enjoyed this pair, not in a spiritual way but more of a conceded way. Metallic, flashy, just the kind of person Miroku wished to portray to everyone who met him. Everyone is a confusing word when used in different context so just for clarification; when dealing with Miroku, _everyone_ meant _every-woman_. Such an interesting character he could be. A flatterer and seducer yet concerned and compassionate, all coming together into the puzzle he carried around.

Miroku wasn't necessarily a socially unacceptable person, simply a bit…

Miroku propped his head up, letting the white light from above reflect off of his tinted lenses, letting his eyes look down to watch the event unfolding in front of him. It really was quite a sight to see his mighty hanyou friend reduced to a mere infidel when faced in his current situation. Miroku could only imagine what they were saying, though, it didn't exactly _look _like things were going smoothly. He wanted to see if Inuyasha could _really_ do this without his help. It would make things much easier on himself and on his next paycheck or two. So Miroku scurried the Inu-hanyou along on a test of masculinity, misdirection and illusion.

Technically, it would be two tests, considering the first one ended with some idiotic college female with a demon fetish. Seduction was involved, numbers and emails we're given; the whole thing was pretty strange considering it occurred in broad daylight instead of in a club at eleven at night when the drinks are fifty-cents each. Still, it ended in the same retching that one would expect from a late night party.

Miroku let a grin escape his lips when he saw the rather cute youkai slap him straight across the right side of his face. He had to feel bad for the poor Inu-hanyou, considering he himself had been on the wrong side of an incoming hand far too many times to remember but, on the same token, at least it wasn't him.

'_Oh well, I'm sure he said something to deserve it.'_ Miroku thought, letting his eyelids close, waiting for a what-would be enraged or distressed Inuyasha to come storming up to him. _'Besides, at least we're on the more integrated part of town. Otherwise he might have some claw marks on him." _

It's unjust and prejudicial to say that all of Tokyo, and in that sense, Japan, suffered from racial issues. Some parts of the country remained openly un-racial and non-judgmental. Of course, these places were few and far between. Despite workings by the government and various citizen-activists groups, demons and humans still seemed to be separated by an unyielding wall of discrimination. Part of the blame rested within the government who had claimed for so long to be trying to diminish this inter-species racism. The federally mandated schools designed for youkai children had long been seen as drastically different from human schools, both in educational facilities and staff quality. Another problem the Japanese government refused to comment on is the minimum-wage difference for humans as opposed to demons and half-breeds. Take one guess as to which groups obtained less earnings and here is a hint; not the humans.

Inuyasha came back to the table, arms crossed, chin held high in the air, merely a façade for his previous embarrassment. He took a seat across from Miroku, keeping his eyes closed.

Miroku decided to go ahead and ask, stupid as his question may have been.

"So, I take it you didn't get her number?" Miroku asked, faking a slight interest.

Inuyasha tipped back into his chair before answering Miroku. "This is stupid." He said, trying to avoid the obvious fact that he was failing at something. "I don't see why you have to keep pressing this shit on me Miroku. In case you hadn't noticed, I was fine on my own before _you _convinced me to do this."

"Inuyasha, you're acting as though I've put you through this before." Miroku retorted, sensing that Inuyasha was a tad upset over his throbbing cheek. _'He'll get used to it. I'm sure, to my own delight, it'll happen many more times tonight.' _"No one forced you to do this Inuyasha and furthermore, you shouldn't be upset just because a lady-"

"What do you mean I wasn't forced to!" Inuyasha barked out while he leaned forward in his chair, his sudden weight shift causing the chairs to bounce once. "You hustled me in with a bribe of food! What the hell else was I supposed to do?"

"Well, you could start by learning some self-control, then learning to eat different foods." Miroku replied with a slight smile on his face. He hesitated for a moment for pressing for an answer to a more meaningful question. "Now, dear Inuyasha, whatever possessed that fine lady to hit you in such a degrading manner?"

Inuyasha let out a large "feh" before answering Miroku. "It ain't like I did anything really wrong. All I did was compliment her on her weight. What woman doesn't like compliments?"

Miroku simply stared in disbelief, unable to fathom the level of feminine idiocy Inuyasha had entered. Sure, there were many, many men in the world who were imbeciles when it came to asking women out but surely Inuyasha had to put anyone else to shame.

"First of all Inuyasha, I don't think I even want to know _exactly_ what you "complimented" about her size." Miroku began with his head turned down. "Secondly, women enjoy compliments about things that they would actually work hard over. Like their sense of style or how their hair is fashioned."

"What does hair have to do with getting a date." Inuyasha said with a tilted head. By his expression, it almost seemed like he was asking a question but his obvious confusion ruined it.

"Lastly," Miroku continued, ignoring another rather stupid question of Inuyasha's, "You should only comment on a female's weight if they make mention of it. If they say their fat, you say their skinny. If they say they've been exercising, say that they're looking good." Miroku finally decided to look up at Inuyasha. "That's more of an advanced tip anyway. Why don't you just try staying off of body weight?"

Miroku was ready to tip the table over after he noticed Inuyasha had blinked a couple times, a classic sign that he didn't understand. More than likely, Inuyasha was still back in his own little world, contemplating the importance of hair. Instead, Miroku let out a small sigh, debating whether or not this bet really was worth it.

* * *

She let the rush of air escape the narrow passage between her lips, relaxing each muscle, beginning from her shoulders, around her triceps, stretching back to her pectorals, lowering further into her thighs, ending at the finish of her hamstrings. She let in another breath, beginning her next step, allowing the mind to wander, nonchalantly, from topic to topic. It wasn't as though Kagome had much she wanted to think about, more that she had things she didn't want to think about.

For instance, there was still the matter of her current occupation and how to proceed with it. The job was degrading, loathsome, a fire hazard considering she could swear there were more people than could actually fit on the floor and above-all, she didn't like the feeling she had whenever she walked in there. It all seemed as if it were almost perfectly clean, considering the fact that it was a cathouse. It had the air of a shady little club, but not the appeal. The Neko Niche held true to what seemed to be of a classier, if you would go as far as to classify whorehouses as such, refinement. True, there was blatant sexual harassment but it was part of the package. It would be like working at some fast-food restaurant and not expecting to get grease on yourself, it was simply going to happen. However, there were a few benefits to this job. First of all, her wages were extremely fair, to the point of bordering generous. Considering by the end of next week she would just enough to pay her rental fee, with enough from two days of working this week to afford small meals for next week, the wages were superb.

Part of it came from a recent tax-cut to all employees in the line of "entertainment." The cut came after a recent survey of age groups involved in prostitution. Local citizens were outraged and pushed for a bill to help these poor "people (teens)." An agreement was actually raised to cut taxes for specific age groups to raise taxes in that same age group for people associated with things such as catering and "cash-register wrangler." Want to take a stab at the age group? Between twelve and twenty years of age.

Kagome would have worried why she was earning so much but decided it was best to worry until _after_ her rent was paid. Besides her earnings, she could also find a little comfort in the fact that this Sango girl wasn't an entirely bad person. As a matter of fact, they had made plans to actually get together and become a little more acquainted with each other. They were supposed to walk around the city in a half-hour or so, letting spontaneity take over and acting on impulse.

Still, her mind wouldn't let her return to the realm of the living, not yet anyway. There was still the matter of a certain aura that was plaguing her system. There had to be a reason as to why she was remembering it all of a sudden…

Aura, the demonic or spiritual power given off by certain races, is commonly misconcepted by humans without spiritual power (and yes, the modern world is losing people with spiritual power fast, a direct result of laziness and denial in the old ways) as some sort of color exerted from demons and priest who are preparing for an attack or some other strenuous activity. Truth-be-told, there is a sort of "color" to it but, for demons, the actual feel of it is relative to the species of demon, their mentality and their actual actions toward people. In humans, it's _almost_ as interesting, except it's not because it all feels the same, unless you know the person somewhat. And maybe on occasion Aura could be scaled to judge a demon or human's power but this isn't the fifties so it isn't like that's what its commonly used for. Unless of course, someone has a power fetish, then, by all means.

Back to the matter at hand, Kagome still wasn't sure why she was thinking about this. She couldn't remember much about him but, she did remember that it wasn't as if they were the best of friends. Yes, he was Kikyou's boyfriend and she did dine with the two every few days so she could talk with her cousin. He was an all-round decent guy; although rude, irritable and quick to act, he was sweet and caring in his own right toward Kikyou. In fact, for two years it seemed they made the perfect couple. During their senior year though, seems just seemed strained, though it was to be expected considering what Kikyou had been through.

Kagome hadn't really gotten the chance to talk with her cousin that year, or any year following for that matter. It was a shame considering how close they had been, only to have a few stressful moments completely disrupt it. Kagome was almost sorry that things had ended the way they did between them. Still, she never once condoned the lengths Kikyou had gone to, despite anything that may have happened to her. It was that belief that Kagome used to justify her own distaste for her cousin.

Kagome finally allowed her eyes to open, hearing the annoying and rhythmic buzz of her alarm clock. She hadn't gotten nearly as much sleep as she should have and would be strained for time, considering Sango would be here soon but she had needed a moment to think, in spite of the fact that it hadn't really helped anything. Kagome picked herself up, feeling a rush of blood build back into her muscles, and trotted away towards the lavatory for a bath. She should have eaten breakfast first but she didn't. She was too lost to eat.

* * *

"Mr. Kuzuki!" Came the high-pitched cry of one of his female students.

One, twice, thrice; Tetsuya pounded his head against the cherry-wood desk in one of the conference rooms on The Department HQ's fifth floor. This is why he had left Inuyasha and Miroku to their own forms of amusement. Tetsuya helped to teach some of the finer points of investigation to potential recruits. Normally he would let one of his colleagues take care of the class but as luck would have it, "something came up" at the last minute so, Kuzuki, drawing the short straw, was left to babysit.

"Yes Haruko?" Tetsuya replied, face still ground into the desk.

"If one suspect says one thing and another one says something else, who do you believe?" Haruko asked unashamed.

'_She can't be serious.'_ Tetsuya thought to himself. The Department was a top-policing agency with jurisdiction over all of Tokyo and with a military grant. How could these people be the best possible candidates? "The one who's not lying Haruko."

Tetsuya lifted his head slightly, originally in order to prepare for a fourth blow, and noticed Haruko actually writing down what he said. It was almost cute that she took everything he said literally. Almost, except for the fact that she could eventually wind up getting someone killed.

Eventually, his wristwatch alarm went off and he excused the class for the day. Tetsuya felt pity toward Haruko but, he knew she would catch her mistake before it wound up to be any trouble. Tetsuya packed away his class evaluation sheets back into the desk and prepared himself to stand-up. Before he could however, Miyako, a fairly intelligent candidate, approached him.

"Mr. Kuzuki, I was wondering if you had time to answer me a question." She asked, slightly timid.

Tetsuya offered her a reassuring smile, eyes closed. "If this is about the problem I presented earlier; yes, you did fine. The mass of the suspect did matter in that case and you were right about how the actual pattern of the gunpowder was a separate issue on its own. Good job Miyako."

Miyako blushed a tinge of pink, not green since it's impossible to blush any color other than a shade a red, and walked out of the room, tripping after a couple steps and covering it up with suppressed giggles aimed at Tetsuya.

'_Alas, I know why the caged bird sings.'_ Tetsuya thought, chuckling slightly. Honestly, he really didn't but in the least he felt like a caged bird considering how long he had been there, barely teaching, and just overseeing mostly.

"You really should stop encouraging her Kuzuki." Hanako's voice, pleasurable and sweet, trailed to Tetsuya's ears. Hanako stood against the frame of the door, letting her hips stick out slightly.

Kuzuki merely smirked at her and remarked, batting his eyelashes, "It's not my fault I'm beautiful."

Lieutenant Amaya smiled at him, openly and warmly and stayed that way for a few moments, letting her sunlight eyes simply stare into his, taking into full detail how his eyes glistened and how they stared, unwaveringly back at her. She finally revealed why she was there by reaching into her pocket, and tossing Tetsuya's cell-phone at him.

"You got a call from you-know-who." She said, "She said she needed to talk to you."

Tetsuya opened the phone and began dialing the number. He already knew who she was talking about. He had been expecting this call all day. "Did she say why?"

Lieutenant Amaya turned around, ready to leave. "She wouldn't talk to me. Said it was too confidential to talk about with anyone other than you right now." Hanako turned her head so she could glance at Tetsuya, whom she noticed had taken a kindling to her backside. "If you take a picture, it'll last longer." With that, she walked out towards the elevator, a smile, nearly arranged on her face.

Kuzuki heard the ringing, five seconds total, before he heard the receiver being picked up.

"So what did you find out?"

* * *

Kagome arose from her chair when she heard a knock at the door. She had been skimming through one of the textbooks she had purchased when her enrollment was still valid. Just because there weren't as many references for her to go to with her questions didn't mean she had to give up education completely. Besides, seventy percent of college was study and acceptance anyway. Kagome wouldn't be able to teach herself language and literature without a critic, though what would it matter in comparison to thermal and nuclear physics?

Her mind was still at work, attempting to sort the fragments of thought she had previously conjured up. It was a curse to always think about things, trying to put everything into a logical order. How ironic that someone, trained to believe in, expose, and harness supernatural powers and existences, would have to believe in a logical and scientific answer for everything.

"Hey Kagome, are you there?" Sango's voice slipped in beneath the crack in the doorway.

'_I thought it was her. Score one for me.' _She mentally congratulated herself for guessing correctly at the cause of her disturbance. Well, disturbance would be a little harsh of a word. More of an interruption of a previous affair. No, since Sango's interruption would have been planned anyway…in any case, Sango wasn't exactly a disturbance or a nuisance. We'll leave it at that. Kagome opened the door of her apartment, coming eye-to-eye with Sango.

"Hey Sango." Kagome greeted, obvious jubilance in her voice and countenance.

Sango gave a small wave before answering, "So, are you ready to go?"

"Yeah, just let me go grab a couple things before heading out okay?" Kagome retreated back into the apartment to grab a couple necessities before returning to Sango, both exiting down an adjacent stairwell.

* * *

The two trekked down the sidewalk, heading off away from the sun, letting their feet take them where ever they may. The weather was still beautiful out, making it an exceptional day to actually get some exercise. Not that either one of needed it, considering their already more-than lovely figures.

"It feels so strange," Kagome though out-loud, "To walk around like nothing happened last night, especially when it's so beautiful our right now."

Sango looked over at her, smiling softly, then giggling.

Kagome looked at her quizzically then asked, "What? Did I say something funny?"

Sango let a couple laughs out before replying, "No, it's nothing, it's just that you remind me of myself when I first started working this filthy job." Sango kept her head toward the sky, "reminiscing" (if you will) about her first night. Actually, it pretty much went the same as Kagome's, though, there were certain events that didn't really match up.

Kagome had every right to feel strange though, considering the fact that last night had been a dark and depressing situation, to be thrust back into a lighter, more joyous, environment. Perhaps it all goes back to the spiel about the music of nature or some of that nature. Truthfully, who really knows?

After a few more moments of walking, Sango and Kagome finally sat down on one of the park benches, taking into account the majestic scenery, filled with scurrying critters and loath-worthy couples passing by. As short a time frame as it may have seemed, to trek the length of the complex to the park and halfway through took about an hour or so. The walk had been pretty long and not much had been said during the walk. Nothing of importance anyway. The two females did exchange some information with each other; their likes and dislikes, hobbies, favorite etc. and such. Again, nothing of extreme importance or too personal was really brought up.

Trust one of our protagonists to actually do something like that right? Actually, Kagome was rather curious as to why Sango had the job she did. She seemed like an all-around nice person, rather intelligent even, too smart to be someone who actually got-off on that kind of work. What was her secret?

"Say, Sango…" Kagome began, letting a soft expression come across her face.

"Yeah?"

Kagome readied her question, beginning with an awkward smile, "If you don't mind me asking, why exactly are you working…" Kagome stopped when she noticed Sango's head fall slightly and immediately her heart sank. She hadn't tried to hurt her new friend, it was simply curiosity, plenty justifiable right? _'Oh no, does she hate me now? Way to go Kagome, you just lost the one friend you have in your new hell-hole._' "I'm sorry! I wasn't trying to upset you." Kagome said turning her head away, "It's just, if I had met you anywhere else, I never would have thought that you…" _'Yes Kagome, that was the perfect thing to follow up with. Oh how do you do it Girl?'_

Sango didn't respond, simply sat there for a few moments before raising her head again. Sango turned her head toward Kagome and Kagome, sensing her motion, looked back. Sango didn't appear distressed or upset. Actually, Sango appeared to be quite confused. Then, ever so innocently, Sango asked,

"I'm sorry, did you say something Kagome?"

Kagome nearly fell over after learning that Sango really hadn't been paying much attention to her. She couldn't be angry however since if Sango had heard her, she doubted they'd actually be talking right now.

"It's alright. So what were you thinking about anyway?" Kagome asked.

Sango put her finger to her chin for a moment before replying to Kagome. Sango let out a small sigh and looked, quite concerned, at Kagome.

"Kagome, you're a good girl, why are you putting yourself through this kind of work?"

Kagome blinked a couple of times, unsure whether answering her or taking the time to debate what had just happened was a better idea. Even if she decided to answer the question what would she say? _'Well Sango, after my entire family died, I had to pay off some debts and drop-out of college. Since no one wanted to hire a college drop-out, I got stuck with this.' _

Salt dabbed itself upon Kagome's eye. She had tried her best to keep her family out of her thoughts for awhile now, hence the meditation she had been using more frequently now. It was a coping mechanism to try and forget about the past. She wouldn't be able to deal with her life if she kept thinking about her hardship.

Kagome merely shrugged off the question. "There was no other job out there." She turned toward Sango, sadness evident on her face. "You have to pay the bills somehow right?"

For awhile, neither of them said anything. Just sat there in that awkward silence, neither one bothering to tip-toe through the list of possible things to discuss, for fear harping broken chords. Eventually, Kagome decided to walk the tightrope, and asked her question again.

"So, what about you? Why are you dancing?"

Sango's mouth curious opened into a small smile. "I made a mistake. I put my trust too far with someone and I paid the price for it." Sango didn't elaborate further and she didn't have to. Her tone made it obvious what she meant.

"Come on, I'm starving and I know a great place nearby."

Kagome cocked an eyebrow as Sango stood up. 'Eating' didn't really seem like 'bonding' at the time.

* * *

There were two odd sights that came into Tetsuya's line of vision when he entered the restaurant. The first one being the fact that Inuyasha, not Miroku, was busy talking to a pretty lady. Sure, their jobs required them to talk to women all of the time but not it _this_ way. Inuyasha was actually talking with women without yelling or demanding answers. It was actually quite refreshing. Secondly, Inuyasha wasn't scouring. Sure enough he wasn't smiling but at least he wasn't irritated. Normally if Inuyasha talked to anyone it was a given he would look angry. Tetsuya walked over to Miroku, who was busy nodding every time Inuyasha said something, even though Miroku couldn't actually listen to the conversation.

"Did you do this?" Tetsuya asked, pulling a chair next to Miroku.

Miroku still looked in Inuyasha's direction, as if he was waiting for Inuyasha to screw up again. "Yes, I did. Sadly he's not doing that well but at least they stopped hitting him."

"Miroku, you're telling me that for the past couple hours, you've been training Inuyasha, as if he were a puppy, to track down socially gorgeous women, flatter them with untrue comments and obtain their normally classified contact information?" Tetsuya asked rather calmly.

"Dear Tetsuya, you make it sound as if I'm doing something wrong." Miroku retorted.

Tetsuya took the opportunity to clonk Miroku over the head with his fist. "You just turned Inuyasha into a less successful you, Miroku. You better pray he acts predictably and doesn't retain _any_ of this. We have a job to do Monday and I can't have _both_ of you screwing around."

Tetsuya shifted his attention to the Inu-hanyou across the floor. He had finished his conversation with one woman and then moved no more then fifteen steps away and began talking to another one. Talk about turning a blind eye.

"Has this really been happening the _entire_ time?"

Miroku simply gave a slow nod.

"Anyway, I just got a call from a friend of mine. A SEAL. Seems the American government has been keeping a close eye on Dimitri. Apparently they suspect him of a possible kidnapping of one of their politicians. Because of this, their security force began keeping close tabs on Afon'ka, as well as the Russian Regime." Tetsuya crossed his arms and kept his attention on the Inu-hanyou. "Dimitri has some contacts in the FSB and Ground Forces, as well as the SMT. Meaning his security force should be pretty well armed and experienced. All in all, things don't look too good for a takedown even if we locate the stash."

SEAL, was an acronym for sea, air and land elite operative of the United States Navy. Tetsuya had made it a point early in his career to have good relations with some top brass in many foreign nations. The world could be a dangerous place so wouldn't it be important to have friends on all sides?

As for the Russians, the FSB was an internal surveillance and intelligence agency under the control of Russian government. After the KGB was demolished, the FSB took up the job and began working right away on eliminating any loyalists from the nation after their civil far in nineteen-sixty-five. In the past five years however, the FSB has been overstepping its domestic boundaries, stepping onto the soil of Great Britain, Vietnam, China and Korea, claiming "immediate threats against Russia" were taking shelter in the nations.

'_What use would Dimitri have with the SMT?'_ Miroku thought. _'True, some of the technology they have is remarkable but only if he was in actual control of the government.'_

Miroku took in a deep breath, hesitating before his question. "What about main branch authorities? Won't we be able to order a back-up team?"

Tetsuya shook his head. "It'll be a crowded place in one of the most bustling night-area of downtown. To try and use anything other than ourselves would send the entire section of the city into a panic, especially if the Russians really _are_ in on this."

Miroku kept his head aimed directly at Inuyasha, looking out of the corner of his eye at Tetsuya. "Any word on the surveillance equipment they'll have?"

Tetsuya tipped his chair back and checked his watch. "Three cameras on the second floor, five cameras on the first and two in the basement, all equipped with thermal sensors. Some trip sensors to guard the basement, nothing fancy." Tetsuya pulled a flash-drive out of his coat pocket and handed it to Miroku. "After the Fukuoka incident, the JSDF made it a point to monitor any private building with more then five pieces of security equipment. Major Kaoru was nice enough to hand over the full statistics."

"Oh? Kaoru is working for homeland security now?" Miroku asked, looking dreamily up at the ceiling. "It's really too bad she had to leave. Such fine memories with that woman."

'_You're half the reason she left idiot.'_

The two watched Inuyasha a few moments longer. It certainly was strange to see him out "there," more over; it was strange to seem him not upset. True enough he didn't seem upset but there was something in his facial expression that gave Tetsuya a slight feeling of relief. Inuyasha just seemed so melancholy, as if his body was there but his spirit wasn't listening, wasn't caring, wanted nothing more than to walk away, toward the door and out into the sunlight. It was only an hour or so passed noon, there was plenty of light, Inuyasha simply was just too sad to move.

That's right, Inuyasha appeared _sad_ and it gave Tetsuya a great amount of satisfaction. Tetsuya would never want to think of his partner as the same flatterer and perverted man Miroku was. There were only four souls on the entire Earth that knew why Inuyasha would _never _fit the bill as the kind of person Miroku was but, it was still a scary thought. Inuyasha had so much honor and virtue that guided his life that Tetsuya, nor anyone who knew him would want to see him throw all of that away.

Not like Tetsuya really had to worry about Inuyasha forgoing his values for a one-night stand. The reasoning could be seen at the hip. Tetsusaiga was adorned but Inuyasha's hand wasn't even on it.

"I hate how you encourage the ideal of women as objects and goal markers." Tetsuya snorted as he got up and walked toward the door. "Get Inuyasha, we should probably get out of here before you two ruin my good name here."

Miroku gathered himself up as Inuyasha came over, grumbling under his breath.

"There; I made a complete fool of myself and I've been slapped fifteen times. You better hold up your end of the deal Miroku." Inuyasha said, poking Miroku in the chest.

"Patience Inuyasha, I can assure you, you'll have your ramen in a couple days." Miroku pushed in his chair and walked over to the door. "Let's go Inuyasha, Tetsuya's leaving and unless you want to walk I suggest you get moving."

As Miroku walked out, Inuyasha quickly reached into his pocket, trying to find a note one of the women he talked to had given to him. She hadn't really been interested in Inuyasha but Miroku certainly was a sight to her.

"Miroku wait! This is for you baka!"

* * *

Whatever Kagome had been thinking about before hand, she completely forgot.

Sango and Kagome had eventually made it to the restaurant, despite some nefarious drivers. Kagome felt slightly guilty of the fact that she was in a sense mooching off of her friend but, she still didn't want to turn down a nice meal either. Even before she entered the restaurant, she could smell all of the delicacies cooking. She could taste each and every item on the menu, as though it were something she had been hungering for her entire life. Either she was really hungry or her pheromones were acting up.

By the way, if you aren't quite sure what pheromones are, it would build some more tension if you were to go and look up the word now (don't worry, we'll wait).

Kagome trailed slightly ahead of Sango at this point, lured in by her sense of smell. Her heart was racing and she felt dizzy. She couldn't even tell why at this point. Some underlying force was spinning her around and worse yet, it was a feeling she knew. Some part of her mind was screaming recognition out to her but she couldn't hear it. Kagome could barely see anything at this point, couldn't hear as Sango called for her to watch out. She hit something, not overly hard, but soft with a certain sternness to it. Her arms flailed in front of her, wrapping around the object. Her head, not entirely focused yet, followed the same path as her body, hitting against whatever the object could have been.

She froze like that for a few minutes, her legs shaking, trying to regain her balance. She took a few deep breaths, taking in the smell of whatever it could have been she was clinging to. She had absolutely no idea at this point what it could be but, whatever it was, it did know how to apply proper hygiene. She clung a little closer, taking in some more of the feeling, letting her mind process all of the information it could.

Eventually, she _did_, get an inkling as to who it may be and she _did_ finally pull back slightly, just so she could look up.

Yes, to end the anxiety (and to prove I'm not cruel by switching up the setting), Kagome came face to face with the very figure that's been tormenting her dreams for the passed couple of days. Funny how the situation could jog up so many memories from her past, from past school-life, to family life, even the name of her current thought.

Inuyasha.

* * *

End Notes: Comments? Concerns? No, you don't get the flashback right now so get over it. Perhaps you'll find out next time if I'm nice enough and need the chapters. Well, I'm sure this chapter went just about as badly as last time so, ready your pens and write what you will.


	10. Where It Belongs Part I

A/N: Hey, Its late but oh well. Here's the schtick gentlemen and ladies, this is definintly a two-part chapter that I'm pretty happy with so far. The whole thing combined would have been a "bitch" to write and would have been about two nights of reading...literally. On the bright side, if you don't care about what happened to Kikyou or Inuyasha or Kagome, dont bother reading the next couple of chapters. Instead, might I suggest a story by cutebaby: Unexpected Passions: The Love Child? or perhaps a story by midnight87: Selene. How about a really fluffy classic? try ArchAnime's: An Un-breakble Love. So for this chapter, think of it as a precursor to the huge chapter I now have to write, it gives you an idea but this whole little stupid flashback thing isn't going to give you all of the answers, infact, it'll prolly only flash back for one year, not two, to save time. So today, i thought I'd bring in a little more information on some things I hit on erarlier in the novel. If it gets too dark, which it wont, then stop reading. Anyway, if you like it uber-awesome, if you dont oh well, the really story starts back up in two chapters, cant wait to see you back. In better news, I'm not at an esteemed 80 Hits per chapter-premiere. Thats means 80 people check this thing out per new chapter. Thanks guys, reviews and supprt are greatly appreciated. Well, heres the chapter. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha, nor will I ever. Should I come across his ownership, let I be struck by fan-girls.

* * *

Chapter 9- Where It Belongs (Part I)

Scandalous Investigations

* * *

Six Days Ago  
Time Until Operation: Five Days

Inuyasha didn't move. Whether he wanted to move or if he couldn't move we're two completely different opinions that sadly, Nobody has the answer to. Although, to be honest, Inuyasha did move _two_ things. The first one represented male-kind's entire burden when dealing with moments of inter-gender proximity. Still, it was only a touch, nothing like intimate and erotic scrapes he received in the sub-urban limits. The second one, and most interesting, was that he relaxed at her touch. He knew the scent she gave off, knew who it was but, the name escaped him.

He wasn't even actually concerned about the name at the time, more concerned with the tinge of guilt within his heart, considering the fact that he _was_ letting this woman hang onto him. Why he even felt guilty was beyond him considering it was so long ago but matters of the heart are often illogical and stupid right?

The incident between the Inuyasha and Kikyou never was discussed at length was it? What an interesting little tale as well as terribly sad for Kikyou. So, the story behind the interest begins around four years ago…

(By the way, if you see Nobody, tell him I have his car keys)

* * *

_The halls were so much larger than they really needed to be. Long, scraped, charred walls lined each hallway, topped with sky-blue tiles on the ceiling, golden lights hanging from every third tile. Black and brown feathers and fur that carpeted the floor, failing to be swept away, regenerated themselves, growing thicker and thicker, covering the checkered tiles._

_There were no lockers, not yet at least. The children carried their stuff into the classrooms and kept their excess stuff for the day in plain sight of their keeper. It was an asinine procedure to say the least. To think children this young would actually pull off something illegal with the use of mundane items. No one here needed a knife or a pistol; they only needed their will, ignorance or stupidity. _

_Most of the time, it wasn't the teachers, or the school itself but the __smell__. It was a horrid thing to have to endure, to live in. Eight to nine hours were spent a day in this hell, for a five year curriculum, two-thousand and thirty-eight hours were spent and no matter what day, no matter what hour it was, no one could escape the smell. It was something worse than the death or loneliness, something more vile than the prejudice and discrimination. It was __fear_

_He was late; he had to be at this point. For the past week or so, Inuyasha had been getting to school later and later. He had no choice; every time he thought he may have taken the right route to school, someone was always there. He had resorted to walking in the early morning before the sun had come up, despite his mother's warning which she had given him numerous times before. He thought he might be able to get to school before anyone woke up, that he would be the only one in the world walking about. _

_Every day he would be wrong and would duck into a bush or hide in a dimly-lit alleyway to avoid detection. It was almost like a game; he runs, he hides, no one finds him, he keeps running, then repeat. The game could get boring after a few minutes but what other choice did he have? He wasn't like the rest of __them;__ they who didn't care what everyone else thought, they who thought their way was better. They didn't think twice about what pain was or what it would do; they simply proceeded in producing it for anyone who gave them a second glance. Inuyasha was careful, more sensitive to feeling (I suppose that's a contradiction in actuality, to say Inuyasha has sensitivity). He knew what he could do and, he knew what he __would__ do, if someone, __anyone__, decided to speak ill about him. Inuyasha didn't want to though; he didn't want that feeling of guilt. So, he stuck to his little game of cat and mouse. There was even a special place of his, down by his bridge, where he went when too many people were walking about. It was quiet, just the right amount of quiet and it was peaceful with the vibrating gray cement, stained brown by acidic runoff. He would sit there for nearly an hour, silently humming within the receding of his own mind, waiting for a moment to dash off into the horizon. Once he did however, he was only met by the eclipse of the school's eastern smoke-stack._

_Inuyasha slowed his pace slightly, fatigued by his journey. He slowed more than three seconds when a winged-youkai blew past his ear. It gusted it's speed, then tilted it's nose upward, heading toward the sky, only to be met by the hard tiles above. It lost it's maneuverability and collided with one of the hanging lights, toppling from the sky on to the ground. Inuyasha merely went on to class, not paying any attention to the strange youkai but, more to the new smell that was coming from his classroom. It was sweet but, it was a sickly sweet. It was tantalizing his appetite, drawing him closer and closer to his classroom door. He had never been able to detect such a scent as this, a sickening and delicious scent all at the same time. His pace quickened slightly as he approached the door._

_He had been right all along; he was late. His stomach dropped and turned, threatening to empty itself but couldn't. Every muscle in his body was frozen out of sheer shock. He wanted to look away but couldn't, his eyes remained fixated on the sight before him. He wasn't sure what had actually happened but he knew this was the scent he discovered prior._

_No one in the "class" even knew what her last name was, she was simply called Akemi. That was it, that was what the students called her. She was always a nice person, such a nice person; no one could have seen it coming. She had been under a lot of stress from this job and from her home life. She must have just snapped. Akemi was clutching her forearm, blood trickling down onto the ground. It never did it the ground; instead, it landed on the pale skin of Akira, a kuma-youkai. She was stomping in the corpse, literally __stomping__ on every bone and organ in the body. The youkai's crimson liquid was staining the floor at this point, covering the immediate area, some spilling back to the desks. Still, with ever smash more spurted out from a kicked-in opening on the side._

_Somehow Akemi wound up dead as well, after being attacked by one of her own students but, Inuyasha didn't notice, his mind was racing, and he couldn't see anything. All of a sudden, he felt his body go numb and everything faded to white._

* * *

Four Years Ago (Morning)

Inuyasha let his eyes linger in darkness for a few moments before condemning them to light of the sun, shining through his window. He lay still for a few moments, letting his sweat run cold and allowing his heart to slow its pace. He only moved to glance over at his alarm, noting that he still had an extra hour to get to sleep if he wanted it.

'_Not that I could even __go__ back to sleep now,'_ He thought to himself.

Inuyasha threw the gray covers off of himself and sat up, letting the sweat from his brow that hadn't cooled over to run down his face. Looking out of the window, Inuyasha noticed a family of birds flying by. He watched as they traveled over a few of the tallest buildings on a nearby block, and then turned behind another building and out of sight. He wasn't really sure what had made him look at the birds; maybe it was his dream that he had or maybe he was having thoughts all his own which no one would expect from him. None-the-less, shortly, he expelled himself from the bed and moved down to the kitchen in an attempt to fill some of the emptiness in the pit of his stomach.

Inuyasha made himself a light breakfast, extremely light considering hat he would normally eat. Scrambled eggs along with a couple pieces of toasted bread would normally be a snack to him but for whatever reason, he just couldn't bring himself to eat anything else. He brought the meal over with him into the living room and hopped over a chair, landing his rear in safely in the seat below. Inuyasha drew his fork to begin but stopped himself, images from his nightly vision still etched in his mind.

It would be unfair and outrageous to believe what happened that day was a mere dream. Truth-be-told, it was an _actual_ event that Inuyasha himself had witnessed. An investigation was launched shortly after to determine what caused the teacher to act out so irrationally. After numerous interventions by a JDSF Lieutenant Colonel, the case was defined as being a "provoked assault on a youkai student." How ever the media gave it a different slander, warping the story to be about a helpless teacher who had "no other choice" than to "kill" a "demon-child." What newspapers and reporters didn't mention, however, was the fact that numerous students from the school were interviewed and all agreed that Akira, the kuma-youkai, hadn't intentionally cut open Akemi's arm. Akemi was attempting to stop Akira, who had been running around the room, chasing after another student. When Akemi caught the kuma-youkai, she struggled to get out and cut open Akemi's arm. So the "provoked assault," was nothing more than a misunderstanding and as for Akemi having no other choice, well, that apparently is in the eye of the beholder. Though one would do well to note that "kill" is just the same as "murder."

Inuyasha had come in at the worst time, considering he only saw what the human did and not that it was a misunderstanding, which, led to two major effects on his psyche. The first of which being the negative attitude that grew out of the event, towards both humans _and _demons. His disposition towards youkai is obvious once you consider who he had to live with for the next couple of years and the attitude towards humans came after many experiences which are not allotted in the time frame. The second one is something that has guided his life from the day that it first hit him and something he has never forgotten. Inuyasha didn't do anything to help or stop what was going on, just let it happen. It was a thought that made him sick to his stomach, a thought that almost caused him pain to remember. He let Akemi keep kicking in the corpse but, never said anything to stop her. With that knowledge, he felt partly responsible for the fate that befell Akemi in the end. Perhaps if he _had_ said something, everyone would have calmed down.

Still, all of that were merely reasons for the second effect. Inuyasha _knew_ why he hadn't acted, _knew _why he hadn't stopped it and _knew_ why no one else did either. It was the same exact reason Akemi was killed by another student, torn apart really. For information sake, the child who attacked Akemi is dead, executed by the Japanese Government at the age of seven. The reason no one, even Inuyasha, didn't do anything to stop it, was a reason that sickened him to his very core, just to remind him that; no matter how different he was from either species, he was still _part_-demon.

_Blood._ The aroma, the fragrance, the taste it left in a demon's mouth was just so alluring that it mesmerized each child in that room. A terribly sickening thought but all-too true. Inuyasha could vividly remembering staring at Akemi's arm as her delicious-looking red blood dripped out from beneath the hand that concealed the deep wound. Every demonic-student in that room could only think about one thing: What that blood must taste like. It was a barbarianistic and disgusting thought but again, it is very true. Even the hanyou of the class, Inuyasha, would have wanted nothing more than to rip open the rest of her arm and let the blood seep into his fangs. It was a memory Inuyasha always carried with him and he assumed he would remember it until the day he died.

Inuyasha shook his head to clear his mind, flipped on the television and commenced to eating his breakfast.

* * *

Kagome trotted along, as quickly as her little brown shoes would take her. She was late for her first class of the day for the _third_ time but, in her own mind, it was hardly her fault. First of all, how could she, a freshman, know that her biology class swapped rooms on a schedule based upon which class would need laboratory equipment? Kagome wasn't acquainted with these halls, much less the actual system for room numbers, yet.

The new school term had only begun a few weeks and, to the amusement of most upper-classmen, the lower-classmen were still having a tough time adjusting. Oh, it got a little better when they realized the upper-class had far too much work to complete to even bother making idle threats, much less consume a breath to talk to them. Still, the constant floor-changing in unfamiliar territory could be stressful to anyone with an even moderate amount of anxiety about the term.

Scanning the hallways, to watch curiously as other men and women like her scurried toward their own mandatory babysitting locations, Kagome continued her pace, stopping only when she realized she would have to stop at her locker to pick up her textbooks, which was conveniently located right next to her. After a few near-successful tries, Kagome finally managed to, literally, pry open her locker and retrieve her precious books. However, she noticed something was askew with the space in her locker. Maybe it was due to the envelope taken to the inside of her door. Kagome took the envelope off her door and carefully opened it, from corner to the other. Inside, was a small, hand-made map of the school which also contained direct routes to all of her classes.

So maybe her cousin _had_ ditched her this morning to take care of more _important_ matters. At least Kikyou made up for it by saving Kagome's tail from a morning of searching. Kagome gave a sigh of relief, glad that she would no longer be bewildered about where her next class would be, and began working her textbooks and notes into her arms, still unaware of the simple fact that a carrying-bag would work much better than her own untrustworthy arms. In fact, she learned this when, only a few moments later when one of the upper-classmen bumped into her with his shoulder, causing her to hold her to maintain her balance by bracing against the locker. Of course, since there is no spell to suspend textbooks in the air, Kagome's supplied fell in a mess on the floor. She immediately scrambled to pick up her fallen valuables, glancing behind her only once.

"Hey, hold it you jerk! Come back here!" Kagome shouted amidst the now-near empty hallway. "Don't you have any manners at all?"

Kagome let out a small huff as he ignored her callings and continued down the long hallway. _'If that's how I'm going to act when I'm a junior; just kill me now.'_ Seeing no point in losing her voice over this, Kagome ceased her shouting and finished re-gathering her supplies. She paused only once to look at where he had walked away towards. She really didn't care how _important 'or handsome' _he was: he was still a jerk.

* * *

He looked more like a guard dog, much less her lover, sitting upright, his eyes following every human male that dared venture near the table. Kikyou supposed it was just in his nature to show concern in his own abnormal way; not that he actually had much to be concerned about. Not that it was ever just to put price labels on people, but she was merely a middle-class girl whose only major attraction was that she was the daughter of a JACE. There would be no reasoning with him though; Inuyasha was much too stubborn to cease his constant protection for an afternoon of cozy comfort.

"Inuyasha," Kikyou began coolly, her eyes closed and a small content smile barely visible on her lips, "It's really quite unnecessary for you to be so over-protective; we're only in school."

Higurashi-Kikyou; intelligent, beautiful and philosophical. Her father was a Japanese Aerial Combat Expert, a top-notch pilot working for the Japanese Air-Force. Although Kikyou's father and Kagome's father stemmed from the same gene pool, the traditions they carried over into their families were remarkably different. For instance, Kikyou's family was strict in military tradition and all played a role in the military. Not only was she strictly military-based, Kikyou was also taught by numerous priests and priestesses at an Order shrine. She excelled upon the novice courses and quickly rose through to the advanced workings within the Order. Her relationship with Inuyasha began after she caught the Inu-hanyou watching her on her way to the shrine one day. Eventually (after many a fight), the two became fond of one another and things progressed from there.

"Feh." Inuyasha let out, putting his standing in the matter on the table.

Kikyou merely shook her head; realizing trying to explain things to him was a lost cause. Besides, lunch was only a small expense for their evenings and mornings. Even with this comforting though, she made no effort to move closer to him and averted her eyes back into her current novel. Moments later however, her reading was interrupted as her cousin took a place next to her at the table. Kikyou looked up and flashed her cousin a polite smile and a "hello."

"Kagome, I'm curious; how was your morning?"

Kagome grumbled at her cousin's question before forking a straw into her school-board administered "health-drink."

"Don't even ask." Kagome started, casual disappointment as her countenance, "Not only did I lose the map you made for me but worse yet, I was late for my Language class and can you believe it, she gave me detention!" Kagome took a large sip to try and calm her nerves until a thought struck her. "Which reminds me," She began, putting her finger to her chin and gazing toward then violently sending it down, pointing it at the unconcerned Inu-hanyou.

"You jerk, how dare you knock me over then not even apologize!" Kagome shouted at Inuyasha.

Inuyasha didn't even move his head, he simply let his eyes continue to scan the crowd for any potential disturbance that might escalate to involve him or his beloved.

"It ain't my problem you can't watch where you're going." He replied calmly.

"How stupid can you be," Kagome retorted, "I wasn't even moving so how was it my problem?"

Inuyasha finally lashed out at her, spinning his head to meet her eyes, her beautiful chocolate colored eyes, and shout back at her for her degradation on his intelligence.

"Who are you calling _stupid_ you stupid girl?" Inuyasha shouted, moving his head around Kikyou and closer to Kagome. "I'm talking about the _idiot_ with the _'cute'_ dog ears and _'gorgeous'_ silver hair!" Kagome shouted back, inching closer to his face. By the time they finished they were far too close for comfort, so close in fact that it was a shame that Kikyou had to pull them apart.

"Neither of you have any legitimate reason to be fighting do you?" She asked pushing the two apart, then quickly bring her hand to Inuyasha's ear to scratch one, very quickly, then scraping her nails down his spine, causing Inuyasha to tense slightly. It was almost too perfect that he respected her enough to _want_ her but take her and the result was his tension every time she did anything sensual.

Inuyasha responded with a "feh" and Kagome held a meekly annoyed look on her face for only a moment, then she brightened up.

"So, Kikyou, are you still coming over to help me practice for the APEs in a few days?" Kagome asked, anticipation in her voice. She had been practicing nearly every-day for the Archery/Purification Exams for the past month and a half. For spiritual capable people who planned on using their abilities at will, the exams were a way of garnering a license but which license they received depended on their mastery. If Kagome received a low-grade license, then she wouldn't be allowed a job working with the Order or any job which required her continuous use of her spiritual abilities. There were numerous tests depending on weapon choice but since Kagome was trained with a bow, wouldn't the archery test make the most sense?

Kikyou's eye flung open after Kagome finished, her eyes scanning from left to right. She nearly choked on the very air on which she was breathing and the world began to smear and drip liquid color. Her scent spiked; fear, anxiety, pleasure, disgust but, her passive abilities buried most of the latter changes. Either that or Inuyasha's arrogance and ego shouldered the middle feelings to be for him.

"No, I-" Kikyou shifted her eyes to the table, struggling to find words to replace what she should say. "I have things to take care of-"

"Hey wait, you never did tell me why we couldn't hang out today." Inuyasha tenderly interrupted, showing his concern in a most acute way. At times Inuyasha could almost be sincere and in public, they were very few. For the split second she had to think about that, Kagome admired that about him, that he could be caring and sweet in his own right; he could be gentle and tender when he needed to be and not when he thought it would be impressive. Still, the thoughts were only for less than a second for as Kagome began to think about it, Kikyou suddenly lashed out at everyone.

"I told you there's no need to worry." Kikyou near screamed, cutting a line through the air with the power she released. Kikyou gathered her tray, and silently left the table, hurrying quickly from her cousin and her lover.

* * *

She did everything she could to avoid them, to avoid him, to just get what she feared. Kikyou left the building early, claiming sickness or injury, the nurse really wasn't sure which one. When Inuyasha began tracking her scent, the nurse just said that she had been sent home and he, following orders like an obedient koinu should, let her be, not daring to seek her out further. Kagome however, didn't even bother to think about it. Her apparent matters were a bit more pressing to her psychological state, which were her current courses as well as the affection she was almost sure she felt toward the koinu. None-the-less, both Inuyasha and Kagome returned to their own homes with only a second thought about whether or no Kikyou was okay.

Kikyou squeezed a couple drops out for good measure before sticking the pointed tip into the bend of her arm, between her bicep and fore-arm. It was a shame really, she had intended to start working out in the gym to improve her muscles but never had quite been able to get her feet off the ground. There was always a slight burning sensation for the first few seconds as she pressed the nozzle down but it was nothing in comparison to the burn filling in her abdomen, a flame she hated and loathed to a lesser extent than her love and pleasure for it. The tip stayed in for nearly a minute before she was finally able to bring herself to pull it out. The sensation wouldn't hit her for another fifteen minutes or so. It always came just in time really.

A little more than five minutes later, her father came in; tired yet calm and serene. Kikyou quickly changed out of her uniform, switching quickly into a baby-blue plush robe her mother had gotten her as a holiday gift. She walked, stealthily and purposely, out to the living area where she exchanged a quick greeting with her father. Kikyou relaxed herself on the sofa while her father began quizzing her with small-talk; questions about her day, questions about her life, her lover. Kikyou skillfully shortened her answers, focusing on the time she had left. Her father took his normal place next to her.

The daily sin gave her time to flashback to her days as a child, the sweet innocence she was always bounded with and pure curiosity. She could remember strolling downtown with her mother, taking in the swaying neon lights, how they flared, nearly danced their alluring waltz to every passerby. A few times she herself, wondered what it would be like to be one of those neon signs, the ones people seemed to revere and flock to. While the movements became quicker, more strained and lusty, she could actually imagine herself as one of the neon filled tubes, being carefully handled, placed as according to where others wanted her placed. Kikyou knew what color neon was in her tube as well; a grayish, nearly black neon. She could see the gases rising and falling, expanding and contracting within her tube, faster and faster. Eventually, men as stupid and clumsy as they were, dropped the tube. It fell further and further toward the earth. Eventually, it fell to the ground, arching its back, just like Kikyou, before breaking the contents on the ground, staining the ground within the sin-filled color.

Her breaths were raspy and separated, strained from her actions. There would be no point in trying to talk, in a few moments the Heroin she injected would null her to everything. She brought her trembling hand over her abdomen; she had miscalculated when the pain would start but at least it would only be physical this time. She was able to take one last look at her form, nearly vomiting from the site. She certainly was a mess and her bleeding womanhood didn't help with the picture much. It was too bad it wasn't something a Midol would cure.

Eventually the Heroin kicked in and she was finally able to lie in a state of bliss.

* * *

End Notes: So what did you think? questions? Comments? Concerns? Take it up with my lawyer. I've been up to my neck in lawsuits and I dont wanna here any complaints. I AM working my tailend off. Anyway, i really hoped you guys liked it. If you're too damn lazy to review then just hit the refresh button a few times so i can get some hits. Thanks for your continued support guys. I'll answer reviews after next chapter. Later.

P.S. Yes, they were fucking.


	11. Where It Belongs Part II

A/N: Well, this note comes before the actual FanFic Edit. This is the final precursor story for…well…ever. I plan on doing a couple Chronicles for the story (hitting on some mentioned instances in the fiction) but the chapter after this, the story will continue on with its main plotline. As for reviews, I was quite saddened I turned so many people off. The original two I got were quite what I wanted, the final one I had to practically beg midnight87 for (lol). So I'm sorry if I offended (or offend) anyone but for the interest of the story, that's what happened. I couple shout outs before we get to the story. LoVe23- So after all that time waiting to find out what happened to Kikyou, were you ready for that! Voice Of The Mist- Yes. Freaken. Way. Midnight87- we talk enough through Messages but thanks for being a constant supporter! Btw, what a coincidence I'm half Italian! Anyway, since no one was nice enough (besides them) to review last chapter, those are all the shout-outs I'm doing. That does NOT mean I do not appreciated the other 30 reviews I have for this story. Thanks a lot everyone and Denise, I hope this final chapter will answer your question. Well here it is, finally done after three maybe four days. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha. Is that cool with everyone? Good because if I did, the show would lose funding so quickly that it would be far from hilarious.

* * *

Chapter 10- Where it Belongs (Part II)

Scandalous Investigations

* * *

Four Years Ago (Morning)

Kagome really needed to get some new comforters.

The bed she slept on was covered entirely with white-dyed fabric. Everything from the pillow cases to the sheets, all off white and clean. It was almost suffocating for her; waking up surrounded by the purest materials of the purest color, something she didn't deserve. Sure, she was content in her current position; rested snuggly between a comforter and a sheet, her hands resting gently on one of the nicer pillows while the other resided, closely-pact, against her own chest. Yes, everything was peaceful for her at the moment, though she wouldn't have minded if the alarm clock she had, hadn't begun so early in the morning.

Kagome, unconsciously, brought her arm up, and shut off the blaring alarm that sounded through the second floor room. In truth, it wasn't the alarm that had woken her up as much as it was the unsatisfying taste of her ninety-five percent cotton pillow case. She glanced down, with just enough eye room to see herself chewing on one of the triangular tips of her pillow case. Heaven (and I) only knows what she had been dreaming about; not even she herself could remember. She checked the time; a quarter 'til six. She weakly pusher herself off of her bed, her legs buckling for some strange reason as sweat on the inside of her thighs began to condense from the cool morning air that had snuck in from her window.

Kagome grabbed her school garbs and headed into the shower. She let the actual water run for a few moments before adjusting it to spray from the top and allowing herself to enter. She wasn't sure why but she this strange burning feeling through-out most of her body, almost as if she was coming down with something but she had no other symptoms other than leg-weakness. The water, icy-cold, ran down her, washing away her thoughts and the sweat that so lust-fully clung to her. She pivoted slowly, allowing the gently spray to completely remove her first layer of sin before she herself removed the rest of her mental and physical grime.

She rubbed the soap between her hands, back and forth but only a couple times, before applying the moist solution to her scalp, gently scraping her own nails against her. She only took the necessary amount of time and damn the repeat, before applying the body soap. She moved rather quickly, trying to ignore the very vivid image of a puppy every-time she moved past one of her own, more tender, areas. Kagome let out a sigh, suspecting that she even though this only felt like a few minutes, she had long-overstayed the original timeframe she wanted to stay in.

* * *

"Good Morning Kagome," Came her brother's casual greeting, "Did you sleep well?"

Souta was already digging into his morning nourishment along side her grandfather. For some "little brat," a pet name she often used to address him, he was quite a polite fellow, plus, just like everyone else, he was a morning-person. Kagome offered him a sisterly smile, before responding to his question with slight optimism. In case you're not sure what a sisterly smile looks like, get a sister.

Kagome sat down at the table and her mother served her breakfast; two eggs-sunny side up-with two well-sized pancakes. Kagome looked at her mother with a quizzical and flat-out confused expression, who in-turn motioned toward Souta. He had an inter-cultural day at school, hence, his new family breakfast recipes.

Kagome went through the normal round of morning questions and gestures with her family; her mother commenting on how lovely she looked, her brother gagging at the aforementioned sentence, her grandfather whacking him on the head and bringing up some mildly embarrassing illness Kagome could get or has previously gotten. Through-out however, Kagome didn't even nibble at her food, merely rearranged the contents at random; cutting the eggs atop the plate into smaller triangles, then messing with the pancakes to cut out places for facial features. Her mother questioned her physical state and Kagome shot down the possibility. Then Kagome grabbed her stuff and headed out the door, even though she would be extremely early to school.

'It'll be okay. Besides,' Kagome thought to herself, her heart nearly skipped a beat, then began pumping green blood thought her body, 'I have to tell Inuyasha that Kikyou is going to be late anyway.'

* * *

He kept his golden eyes on her, despite the fact that she was obviously avoiding them. Every ten to twenty seconds he would reiterate his question, only to obtain the same blanket answer. Their little cat-and-mouse game had begun in the courtyard, then moved to Kagome's locker and finally in the "science-hallway" where Kagome's first class would be. The halls were scarcely crowded; the occasional lower or upper-classmen was scarce and only came to retrieve something from their own storage center. Kagome could still feel those eyes, those beautiful, entrancing eyes, prying into the side of her body. She knew he would ask the question again; it was only a matter of time.

'_I'm not telling him anything more until he starts treating me like his girlfriend's family and not like some lesser-being.'_ Kagome thought to herself, less than what an appropriate amount of anger should have been. _'If he doesn't like it, he can walk away. It's not like I enjoy his attention anyway.' _Kagome pressed her back off of the well quickly, allowing her clothes to loosen, if only slightly, then gently leaned back against the wall, keeping her back _very_ slightly arched. Nearly on cue, Inuyasha's voice sizzled from his mouth for what must have been the hundredth time that morning.

"What do you mean Kikyou is going to be _late_?" Inuyasha barked out, his rage-level leveling out by mid-sentence.

Kagome merely let out a small, seemingly annoyed sigh. If Inuyasha had any half-decent qualities about him, this was one that definitely covered them up. He was always so edgy and impatient, not to mention he asked so many question about everything. How on Earth could Kikyou stand such a questioning and rude boyfriend? Kagome knew her cousin's character and personality quite well and if asked, Kagome would never have answered that these two would have made a decent couple. Yet they were smitten together, nearly every-morning, either by one of the bushes in the courtyard or in the less-than not-even-busy third-floor hallway. Kagome let a small frown form, thinking back to when she had stumbled upon them one morning during a precious reconnaissance mission to scope out her classrooms.

_Kikyou and Inuyasha were stretched out on one of the student-benches, built in to the wall of the school. Kikyou was laid parallel to the carpeted bench, her head resting on Inuyasha's thigh as her hair lay sprawled, untangled as if it were lying just where it needed to. Inuyasha's right hand laid across her stomach while his left, gently separated the already free-flowing locks of her hair, his own head being supported by the wall to his left. Kagome had been strolling around the grounds, confident that no-one she actually knew would be in the school so early. She looked like a lost kitten scouring trash-bins and back-alleys for signs. What sorts of signs she was looking for she never knew but, just like the millions upon billions of others, Kagome too went through the motions of searching; an endless searching of nothingness. _

_Kagome partly acknowledged the two as being a part of what would later set her determination-level through the metaphorical roof. Kagome had turned a corner when she spied them, bathing in each other's own emotions and love. Years later, she would despise using that word, 'love,' as it only brought her back to this instant in time, where she lost something she had never known she had. _

_Disinterest._

_It wouldn't be until the end of next year that she actually understood what the importance of this moment was for her but she didn't need to realize it to know it was there. Kagome watched, her feet stuck in what was now an adhesive solution that the floor was no composed of, as Inuyasha bent his back and delivered his lips upon Kikyou's forehead. Kagome could only stand there, dumbstruck for no apparent reason. Together they looked so Divine. What was it between them that brought such an air and atmosphere of piece and tranquility throughout that one area. Kagome stilled her heart, and waltzed passed the two, pressing forward with her now jelly-like legs. When she was standing only a few feet away, she turned her head to look at them. They had never even noticed that she was there. For a few moments after Kagome ignored the feeling with in her own being, shouldering it as non-existent or irrational. She tried to hush her mind from damning her cousin and the hanyou she associated with. Despite her reluctance to admit it, Kagome would have liked nothing more than to know what that must have felt like, the sheer emotional gratification Kikyou must have obtained once she felt his soothing lips touch her. Even four years later, possibly to this day, Kagome wouldn't admit to how she felt, even though she brought it up in her own head, debating how she might have felt._

Kagome was Jealous.

"I told you," Kagome began, feeling as though he was trying to whittle away her resolve, "She told me that she just wouldn't be here until mid-first period."

Inuyasha maneuvered himself in front of her, mild-anger flaring from his eye. Kagome stupidly stared back at him, only to forget her defensive strategy and stare deeply into his. Maybe she _was_ being a bit hard him; this was his girlfriend she refused to tell him about. _'And he does have nice eyes.'_ Commented her inner conscience.

"I'm not going to ask again damn it!" Inuyasha managed to growl out, despite his rapidly falling temper, "Why did Kikyou say she was going to be late?"

Kagome tried to back up, only to remember she was up against a wall. At a different time and under different, but as tense, circumstances, she might have actually done something worthwhile and memorable but considering she needed to regain control of the situation, she acted out of mind instead of heart.

"Listen, she asked me not to tell you why she would be late." Kagome asserted, taking control of the situation. "She's your girlfriend, don't you trust her enough to not do anything stupid?"

Inuyasha flinched slightly as she bit out the last bit, only to strike back with ferocious intensity, perhaps even a bit of cruel intensity. "I'd trust Kikyou with my life you wench! The only person here I don't trust is you!"

Kagome stood there, dumbstruck, for a moment before her hand went to her mouth as an unexpected reaction rose to her lips. She did her best to muffle a laugh with the palm of her hand. Sadly though, she failed and kneeled over as her laughter exploded in the hallway. How could she not laugh at his choice of diction?

"You didn't seriously just use the word 'wench' did you?" She managed out between giggles. "I thought that word died ages ago, I didn't know people still used it." She finished by wiping away a tear in her eye.

Inuyasha, taken back by her good-humored outburst, turned his back to her and folded his arms across his chest. He gave his usual "feh" before answering her question. "Yes I did just use that word. Forgive me for being part of a family that keeps using words like that."

She smiled, semi-brightly at him. He really hadn't understood that her question was rhetorical but, at least he knew that she had only been joking about questioning his word-choice and stopped shouting at her. She made a motion to move near him, if only to try and get him to turn around but he cut her off.

"I should go." The words floated out from his mouth and for some reason, imbedded themselves into Kagome's chest. She knew it wasn't _supposed_ to be like a dagger to her heart but even that knowledge didn't diminish the impact. As Inuyasha walked away, she was actually tempted to go after him and it was then that a thought struck her that she quickly threw into the abyss.

She did enjoy his attention.

* * *

The next day or so blew by with nary a more interesting event, other than Kagome's APE which was scheduled to be held shortly after finishing class on that day. For Inuyasha, even _that _was highly uninteresting and quite frankly, boring.

Inuyasha's time was casually spent either in his dictated classrooms or spending time with his beloved Kikyou, who, had taken a fancy to appear later during first period. True enough, when she _was_ late it would normally be both of them who were late; now she just ceased to arrive "on time" at all. Not only that but she appeared so surreal to him, as though she was something extraordinary yet non-existent at the same time; a fantasy in reality. The thoughts and interpretations however, hardly occurred to him so early; it had only been two days but, given his nature, he couldn't help but notice something to be askew in the air.

The day, already a pressurized hail-storm set free, took a turn for the worse when Inuyasha's hopes of a lazy afternoon stroll were shot down. For what would be the third day in a row, Kikyou had "affairs" to attend to afterschool. On the bright-side, he was welcome to come over as soon as her "delicate" and "tender" matters had been taken care of. There was only one, seemingly ridiculous problem that was provided for Inuyasha: Since Kikyou could not accompany Kagome to her Order administered test, then Inuyasha would have to escort Kagome to and from the testing grounds. However, this would be a more simplified and over-generalized explanation. In true form, the problem, presented in question format, was actually thus:

When the Order, a gathering of the most esteemed and spiritually-apt humans who upheld the teachings of the original priest and priestesses of the olden times (including the afore-mentioned acquaintment between Youkai and evil), administered a test to Kagome, how in the fucking hell was Inuyasha, a mix of demonic and human blood, supposed to escort her onto one of the most youkai-racial sects of land in all of Tokyo?

It still wasn't that little detail that drove Inuyasha into slight-anger, it was something else: Inuyasha couldn't see why Kikyou was so gun-ho about "protecting" Kagome during a near-harmless test. What in the hell could actually go wrong during such a thing if people took these exams all of the time? Kikyou's defense was that the "head-father," which wasn't an actual title, could be most degrading and stereotypical of priestesses during their written exam, often found verbally abusing female-candidates. Gossip sprung from the temple by some rejected females who claimed further, more vicious and unspeakable actions had been taken against them including bribery for certain positions within the Order for the, "right price." None of these rumors ever hit the media.

(I did just realize I never made light of this and just so I don't have to answer any reviews on it: The reason I've gone from Holy Community to Order is quite simple really. The Holy Community is a blanket term to describe spiritual capable who have given their life to their beliefs and their way of life. The Order is a specific sect of this community. While different sects follow the same basic principals; different sects may follow slightly different teachings. Just like religion!)

* * *

"Will you quit complaining woman?" Inuyasha shouted behind his back to Kagome. Inuyasha leapt from rooftop-to-rooftop, carrying a now distressed and frantic freshman on his back. The day had barely even ended when Inuyasha took it upon himself to make sure he wouldn't have to spend any more time with this woman than he actually had to. It was already a huge burden on him to try and stealthily "protect" her during the exams. The only saving grace for this entire asinine day was the rendezvous with Kikyou as soon as this was over.

"Maybe if you weren't being so careless!" As she finished, Kagome let out a small shriek as Inuyasha performed a series of acrobatic feats, which included weaving underneath a rather large billboard, in an attempt to scare her. "Could you maybe slow down a bit?" She screamed into the air, her mind set that she was going to fall no matter what speed he went.

It wasn't any help that Inuyasha hadn't let Kagome change before leaving the school. She was still dressed in her extremely unprofessional long-sleeve shirt, not to mention her skirt, which she had always complained was_ far_ too small for a school setting, was riding dangerously on the curves of her posterior. Of course the two were moving quick enough for no human to actually spot that little dilemma but she had a completely new problem on her hands. The perpetual bounces from the ride were sending tiny shocks to Kagome thighs and they didn't just stop there. Inuyasha's hands were holding onto her thighs to keep her from moving and her body was responding to both the soft, caressing touch of his masculine hands and to the constant and rhythmic jolt that transcended through the rather soft material beneath her skirt. It was only her state of confusion that she actually took a real hard look at the ears on the top of his head.

Little, white triangles were placed symmetrically upon his head, swaying gently with every leap he made. They looked so soft _'and deliciously edible'_ that it was a strain for her to contain herself from lightly nibbling on the sensitive tips. She squirmed slightly, adjusting her legs, trying to fixate herself into a more "comfortable" position, and reached up a hand to gently stroke the fluffy little triangles.

Inuyasha violently thrashed to his left, pivoting his body in mid-air so that she was now on his stomach and his _'beautiful'_ golden eyes were glaring at her, evoking a mix of fear and anxiety into Kagome.

"Don't _ever_ do that again." Inuyasha kept his eyes on her for a few more moments, centering his thoughts to the task at hand. Why in the hell she had touched his ears he didn't know but he was sure about one damn thing; she was _not _allowed to stroke them in and way, shape or form. Even after his glare had made his stance in the matter apparent, he still lingered a moment longer, taking in the full figure of her form. She was well-crafted with a slightly smaller frame than Kikyou, her skin wasn't as pale as Kikyou's and she was much easier to scare than Kikyou. Not to mention the fact that she her body was growing slightly heated from the ride, giving her a light layer of perspiration which in turn, gave her a golden lighting as the now setting sun reflected off of her wet body.

Kagome merely nodded, too startled to actually say anything. After a few more moments of staring, he pivoted around to navigate their course. She let out a small yet frustrated sigh. She wanted to slap herself; not for touching his ears but for paying more attention to something else when he turned around to stare her down. He hadn't noticed just how "uptight" he was when he turned around.

When they finally arrived at the grounds, Inuyasha pranced off into a familiar hiding place of his, a tree, one where he could watch Kagome during the action-oriented part of her exam. He still had about an hour to himself while Kagome took the written portion of her exam however, giving him time to let his mind wander around the city. Kikyou had informed him to listen for any commotion during the written exam but if anything happened, he was sure he would be able to hear it.

The days were already beginning to end sooner and the sun in the sky was already shifting the clouds to a pink and orange color. His mind wandered off further, to thoughts of Kikyou and how exactly he felt about her. They had been dating nearly for so long now yet neither of them had professed a sincere devotion to one another; much less discuss what was to happen after this phase of their lives. He often thought about what life could or would be like without Kikyou; which turned out to be the same meaningful existence, just without the caring of someone else in his life. He lowered his head against the rays of light that now penetrated through some of the leaves as a rogue cloud revealed more of the sun.

Inuyasha still wanted to kick himself for what he had done earlier. He acknowledged that he had overreacted when Kagome touched his ears; it was just that: it felt _so_ good. He had felt the moisture from her thighs as they hopped around Tokyo for the better half of an hour and the thought went straight to his groin. He even kept his position just to feel himself pushing through the flimsy fabric of her panties and what was worse; he enjoyed the feeling. Inuyasha had even gone so low as to compare Kagome to Kikyou, as if there was anyway to compare the two. Despite what some others said, they did_ not _look alike and their personalities were so different it was almost unbelievable. Inuyasha shook his head vigorously from side-to-side. _'What am I getting so worked up about?'_ Inuyasha thought to himself. _'If I'm comparing her to Kikyou then obviously I just miss Kikyou. As for the erection, well, it's not as though I can control them. Besides, I'll be able to hang out with Kikyou tonight and then I won't have these stupid reactions for awhile.'_ So Inuyasha nodded his head in agreement with himself and leaned back against the trunk of the tree. Another cloud had passed, shielding him once again from the warmth of the sun. Inuyasha loosened his pants and began waiting for Kagome to finish her exams, day-dreams of Kikyou running rampant in his mind.

* * *

Kagome notched her third arrow along the bow-string. This was her last chance to score well on the precision and accuracy portion of the exam. Her first arrow had landed in the ring outside the center while her second fell far out of bounds. If she didn't hit the same ring or better, this portion of the exam would be marked as 'fail' and if that happened, there was no way she could get a C-Class or higher license. She drew the arrow back, relaxing her shoulders and narrowing her sight on the target. She drew in a sharp breath, and then released the arrow. It swiveled in the air and pounced, dead center, on the target. From his place in the tree, Inuyasha silently congratulated the miko, his keen eyesight taking in every detail of the event. He truly hadn't believed that she would be able to succeed in the final shot. Mostly because he was still subconsciously comparing her to Kikyou in his mind.

How could he help it? After all they were related and she did have some interesting qualities about her. Such as her slender figure, curvy and slim without being overly so. Inuyasha couldn't help but peep out of branches whenever she was performing some sort of move; her skirt always made a sort of flapping motion, allowing a moment to see _exactly_ what she was hiding. So he had an inner-pervert in him, it wasn't as though it meant something.

Soon after, Kagome was moved to a pavilion specifically designated for her purification trials. They were rather standard courses; blunt objects were thrown at her to test the speed and strength of her barrier, soulless animations of demons were thrust into her face to test her purification abilities among a few other test. Kagome excelled particularly well in the purification area, as well as in the more lethal abilities. The one thing she did lose points for however was her barrier. It was the one thing she had intended to practice, though never could get it working quite effectively enough. She often miscalculated the velocity of what was coming at her and even if she did get a grasp as to the speed, she always turned the barrier a degree of power lower than what was actually needed. In the end, the penalty wasn't too high and Kagome still shown through by obtaining a B-Class License.

The ride back was hardly as interesting as the ride forward. Kagome made a couple remarks about being surprised by her abilities and Inuyasha merely let out a "feh" and told her to quiet down. The second cloud had now long disappeared from the sky, allowing Inuyasha to bask in its warmth and illuminating being. It really would have been a gorgeous photograph; Inuyasha, carrying Kagome on his back as their sides faced the sun, their hair, mingling with each other as the pressure upon them bushed the loosened strands to the back, refraction from the windows causing a shade effect, letting only the sun shine through as the background. Around half-way through the ride Kagome muttered out something, though it was inaudible, even to Inuyasha's heightened sense of hearing. After that she passed out on his back, moments before he dropped her off at her house at the Higurashi Shrine.

* * *

Kikyou lay panting on her good linens, the blinds closed; shielding her from the orange light of the outside world. She hated and despised herself for everything that she was; everything she had become. Her being was of equal use than that of a corner-store hooker or possibly even less. She couldn't stand it at this point, the burn, the flame, the unquenchable searing blaze she felt; she loved how it felt to extinguish it, loved how it felt to be forced to extinguish it. She rubbed the small nub of erect tissue a couple times before delving her fingers back in, flipping herself onto her stomach from pure pleasure; like a flapjack.

_He_ had lied to her; of course, that's all men have ever done and will continue to do. Lie, manipulate and attempt to control; that would be all men would do in their life time and she would have to pay the price. _He_ lied to her about wanting to see her, manipulated her into fanning her desire; made her lust for _his_ moves and _his_ feel. _He_ had attempted to control her and, despite no matter how much she had resisted, no matter how much she begged and pleaded for it not to be real, _he_ had succeeded.

This is what Kikyou was forced to now when _he_ wasn't around to satisfy her needs. She increased her rhythm, pressing deeper into herself, quicker and quicker until a slight haze began to cover her eyes. She hated _him_; hated _him_ and loved _him_ at the same time. No, even that was a lie, she didn't love _him_; she loved what _he_ did her. How _he_ could make her feel, how _he_ could make it all go away, could make it so delectably sinful. So delectable and intoxicating in fact that, during the last two times _he_ had screwed her like the bitch she was, she had completely forgotten about shooting up. She had always made the excuse that she didn't want to feel it; she didn't want to feel as though she had a say in what happened to her, that it wasn't her fault. How could Inuyasha hate her if she wasn't in control? It was just now however, that she realized something magical; it was much more exciting when she was wide-awake to see what was going on. Kikyou began drooling, everywhere, excited by her own thoughts and feeling; she could picture _him_ behind her now, bleeding the life and purity out of her, all the while knowing it was what she wanted.

All was still now; no flashy ending, no continuance, Kikyou just stopped herself. A few rays from the sun had snuck into the room from cracks in the blinds, coming just in time to stare in pity as Kikyou bled her eyes upon her bed. Salt-solution poured from the closed slits formed from her eye-lids tightly pressed together. She couldn't stand herself at this point; she was something inhuman and yet so natural at the same time. She wanted to feel retribution's icy blade for the sins she had committed; especially for the sin of betraying her only real love in the world. She sat up-right on her bed, sat there and just let her feelings fall from her eyes, knowing the truth before she could even really understand it; her life, the one she wanted and the one she had, was completely over now. She removed her hand from her womanhood, wrapping her arms around herself, trying to draw some warmth from her cold blood. She was such a slut; she hadn't removed her clothes, just loosened everything and gone at it. She was very quiet for a few moments, merely sitting there letting the tears fall. Finally, the Earth-shattering sobs began erupting from her throat; loud, monstrous, aches that seemed to come from her very soul. She nearly fell over after the first wave but instead, brought her knees to her chest and placed her head on them. She felt as though she was covered in filth; filth and worthlessness. She sobbed even harder when she actually realized why she was acting so. Kikyou was still upset that _he_ wasn't there. She picked up a porcelain doll her father had given her as a child. It was simple and elegant, a younger girl, just about Kikyou's age when she first received it, dressed in a fine kimono in celebration for the autumn festival. Kikyou whacked it against her dresser; once, twice, harder and harder until it began to crumble in her own, cutting the fine yet pale skin open, crimson blood now running down her hand. Another wave of sobs hit her; hard. So hard in fact, she hadn't heard him kick in the door to her room.

He screamed her name, jumping from his position in the doorframe onto the soft, unstained bed. He immediately cupped her into his arms, whispering sweet-nothings and reassurances into her ear. It took her awhile to fully understand who it was that was talking to her and once she did, she couldn't feel anything for him. Somewhere during her long emotional bout, she had already made up her mind and that was her final decision.

"Kikyou, what happened?" Inuyasha just kept his eyes focused on the ground, keeping her close to him, trying to protect her from herself. Kikyou paused a long time before finally answering him. She turned her head upward and moved his face so she could look into his eyes.

Nothing.

She wanted to cry out his name, scream and shout for it into the darkness but she couldn't find the words. She moved herself against him, her half bare chest pressed against his own covered chest and still she couldn't feel anything. A silent tear fell from her eye, realizing that _he_ had achieved his goal to control her. _He_ had shut out all feelings of hers that mattered then, replaced them with one unsationable appetite; for that, she would never forgive _him._

"I'm fine Inuyasha." Kikyou responded, keeping her voice cool and clear. She nuzzled slightly against him, portraying a fake feeling of warmth.

"Kikyou, _what happened?_" Inuyasha reiterated. She was avoiding his question and he couldn't figure out why. What was she hiding from him that was so stressful?

"Inuyasha…do you…love me?" Kikyou asked, shocking Inuyasha out of his current state of thought. What on Earth was he supposed to say? Hell if he knew what love was; how was he supposed to answer something when he didn't know what the subject was? "Kikyou, I-" Kikyou didn't let him finish before pulling him down into a toxin-lased kiss. She pulled him back down onto the bed, holding their poisonous lip-lock. Neither dared to deepen it or take things any further than what was already happening. Inuyasha couldn't understand what she was up to or, for that matter, what was happening to him. At first, he was excited she kissed him, especially when she pulled him down but, soon enough, he was disinterested; his girlfriend, his insanely enticing girlfriend was lying half-bare in front of him and he wasn't even interested. He may have been love-confused but even he, s mere hanyou, should have surely have felt something, right? What was becoming of them; what was the voice in his mind telling him to let her go, that the truth would only kill him? They pulled apart, both vowing to see each other tomorrow and Inuyasha slipped out through the window just as Kikyou's parents came ion through the front door.

Kikyou had just enough time to hide the broken pieces of the doll before her father and mother came into her room. She eyed them both questionably as they entered, neither saying a word. The sun again had retracted itself from Kikyou's room and the warmth she had felt, if she had ever felt any, was now gone. She hated them both now; neither of them cared who they hurt or what they did, as long as they got what they wanted. She never wanted to be anything like them; not even if a gun be placed upon her temple. Even her mother, her own goddamn mother, was fake now, hiding behind the sea of make-up and childhood moments that they had once vividly shared.

Kikyou could now taste it, taste the salt which she had so feverishly cried out minutes, hours, at this point it didn't even matter how long ago. Her own salt tears mixed with his own salty taste; it was almost a delicacy to her and she smiled the whole way through; a horrible and twisted smile from a woman so lost in her own pleasure. One last tear fell from her face as her mother, the only who even seemed remorseful, joined the festivities by latching onto Kikyou's pugnacious breast; filling Kikyou with a new sense of self-hatred and pleasure.

* * *

The final time Kagome, Kikyou and Inuyasha were in school together had become a blur to nearly everyone involved in their lives in anyway. After the upper-classmen were replaced, all legends and memories of them dwindled out of existence. Such was the way of the world, even if a less-than life life-changing experience happened by. It was Kagome's experience however so, how could it have changed her life? She was merely a bystander in that whole scheme; the one she gave thought to without actually thinking _about_ it. Through a bit of digging and contemplation, Kagome eventually remembered something about the whole incident but it was still only dream like to her. In her own thoughts this was the best rendition she could give.

During the last year and so of Kagome's time with Kikyou and Inuyasha, nothing but a few interesting things actually happened. Kagome's life was tangled in the threads of balance between her school and social life, not to mention her growing thoughts of a rather rude hanyou. She had made it a point to avoid him when applicable, except during the days she spent with her cousin at lunch, which had begun to dwindle in number. She put aside the notions and illusion of romance that so often plagued her mind, focusing more on her cousin, which was a reason on its own that Kagome filed away Inuyasha as a family-based crush.

Kikyou began arriving to school later and later, offering only, if anything, the most generalized reasons as to why. The times Kagome actually saw Kikyou for longer than a minute, she would have bags under her eye-lids and even paler skin than normal. Her long beautiful hair became tangled, morphing the once straight and perfect hair into that of another's persons. Kikyou's voice became hoarse; she often remained silent during conversations, though no one could figure out why her voice had changed; it used to be such a joyous and sweet pitch. In addition, Kikyou seemed slightly jumpy and, quite often, became aggravated for no apparent reason. Aside from her physical changes, Kikyou's social changes had actually been the first thing Kagome had noticed. The once happy couple of Inuyasha and Kikyou now seemed to barely interact; sure they conversed but that spark, that passion that Kagome had once seen, was lost between them. Now, they were much alike the other mindless celebrity couples the pitiful Americans were often gallivanting on about.

The rest of the year finished out well for Kagome; she had passed all of her classes and she had completely comforted herself with Inuyasha. She began conversing more with her childhood friends: Yuka, Eri and Ayumi. On top of all that, she even began dating Houjo, the class heartthrob.

In truth, by the middle of her sophomore year, she had almost completely forgotten about her cousin's state, as well as Inuyasha, in pursuit of her own talents and agenda. It was only natural for the little bird to leave the nest once she felt comfortable. However, even though she may have left the nest, a single event led her to destroy it, which was why she carried a satchel of guilt for so long. Often she found herself wondering what would have happened if she had actually just kept her mouth shut and her curiosity out of the way.

By the middle of her freshman year, Kagome had taken a fancy to one of the bathrooms in the school; one where she could right after a certain class to relieve some organ-based pressure. After a few consecutive weeks of attendance, Kagome became aware that something was going on in one of the stalls of the bathroom nearly every-time she was there. At first she thought, perhaps someone was just really into the cafeteria food but, honestly, the sounds didn't seem to resemble that of an overactive digestive system and Kagome would know; she had a brother. At first, Kagome didn't let it bother her; she simply washed her hands and left the room. It wasn't until she actually _saw a guy _leave the stall that she began to become curious. Upon further inspection, she found that it wasn't ever the same guy but, a completely random one. Again however, Kagome didn't question it.

As fate would have it however, the next year, Kagome would use the same bathroom that was _still_ haunted by those disturbing moans. Well, after a total of a full-year, Kagome was sick of it, so she finally exposed the act, determined to lecture the occupants. When Kagome finally did take the initiative, she was greeted by a not-so-encouraging sight.

There in the stall was Kikyou, on her knees, with another senior who was most certainly not Inuyasha.

For some reason, and to this day Kagome still does not understand why, Kagome flipped out, grabbing Kikyou by the collar and pulling her out into the hallway.

"What do you think you're doing Kikyou!" Kagome near screamed, inviting the rest of the students to gather around and watch. Kikyou just stood there, eyes staring directly into Kagome's. Then, Kikyou did something unthinkable to Kagome; Kikyou let loose a devilish smile.

"I believe you saw what was happening Kagome." Kikyou commented, her smile twisted slightly becoming one not of evil; it became one of insanity.

"You…you…" Kagome was at a loss for words. This wouldn't be her cousin, not the same cousin who had helped teach her to ride a bike, who had once given her lunch-money so her mom didn't find out she lost it; it couldn't be the same Kikyou who had always been there for her and infused Kagome with an even stronger sense of moral value. "Aren't you still dating Inuyasha?" Kagome cried out at last, "Don't you think he's going to be upset about this? How could you ch-" Kagome stopped when said-hanyou materialized from the crowd, staring blankly at Kikyou. His golden orbs, at least to Kagome, had lost some of their shine, their zest that he had often held when gazing at his (former) lover. Neither Kagome nor Kikyou had to finish or embellish the story any further; he could smell it, the bastard (Hachiro, his name was Hachiro) had finished the deed before Kagome could stop him and Inuyasha could smell it all over her.

For the longest time, it seemed as Inuyasha had something to say, some great burning question he wanted to ask. His mouth moved but nothing came out; all that could be seen was the small movement of his lips saying _'Why?'_ He said nothing though as he broke through the glass windows and, leaped in what direction Kagome assumed would be his home.

Kikyou moved soon after the incident; for some reason, one of their aunts in the United States took custody of Kikyou. Kagome never did learn why. There was still one thing that frightened Kagome about that day; her smile. It was such a sad, twisted little smile. Kikyou looked as though she was crying with need but, the thought of her crying had invoked a smile on her face causing that deranged and sick expression on her face. Kagome didn't care though; Kikyou had still obliterated years of trust with a single action and, for that, Kagome could _never_ forgive her.

* * *

The remainder of that year was lost in the wind; any feeling, action or even words that were spoken, all gone from the hearts and minds of those who foolishly held them too close. However, there was one last thing that Inuyasha could vividly remember; one last piece of intrigue that he had kept by him.

Inuyasha didn't head for home as quickly as he most likely should have. Instead, he took his time; knocking over satellite dishes and radio-towers on his way back to the apartment; all the while cursing every woman he saw on the way. He took no measures to shield himself from anyone as he glided down to the sidewalk and into the apartment complex. To every one that lived there, he seemed no more on edge than he normally did; no one could detect the hatred, the ice, which constricted his heart.

* * *

Tetsuya sat on the satin-white couch, staring down into his cup of what-ever-the-hell-this-is beverage. He swiveled the green, almost brown liquid a couple times, searching for any chunks of solid material that might float to the top. When he found none, Tetsuya merely tried again, deadly-sure that his long-time friend was trying to poison him; it wouldn't be the first Sesshoumaru had tried to kill him, or anyone for that matter.

"Don't be rude," Rung Sesshoumaru's voice throughout the pure-white living area. His lips were barely visible as he took, what would have appeared to be a sip, of the toxic-looking liquid he had so generously made himself. If you haven't picked up on it; that was a joke. What fool in their right mind would expect Sesshoumaru to make tea? "If you don't want to drink it, wash the cup out and sop wasting my time."

Tetsuya simply set the cup down on the rectangular glass table in the middle of the room then crossed his arms in front of his chest before speaking. "Anyway, I was able to finish the little matter you asked me to look into," Tetsuya began, reaching for a small vial in his left sleeve. "Turns out you were right; their malpractice suit was just a cover-up." He tilted his head back and downed whatever the contents of the vial were. "They said you should call and arrange for a settlement plan. They'd like to settle out o-"

Tetsuya stopped when he heard the sounds wave from the door slamming caused the contents of the cup on the table to swivel vigorously, in an oval pattern. Moments later, Inuyasha himself walked past the square corner cut-out, revealing himself to the youkai and hanyou in the room; hell bent on ignoring them.

"Inuyasha," Sesshoumaru voice trailed to the Inu-hanyou's ear, signaling him to stop. "Don't you have somewhere to be?" Sesshoumaru finished his sentence with slightest bit of irritation for whatever reason. Perhaps Inuyasha had broken something again or they had gotten into a physical argument or maybe something else; perhaps Sesshoumaru cared if Inuyasha got an education. One of those will never happen and one guess to figure out which.

"Go to hell."

With that, Inuyasha continued up toward his room, while an expressionless youkai, made the motion to pursue him. A hand went across Sesshoumaru's breast, however, only an Idiot would be so foolish as to try and prevent Sesshoumaru from doing something.

"Hold on; if you go over there now you're likely to kill him." Tetsuya interjected, knowing full well that the aforementioned action had been Sesshoumaru's actual intention. "Besides, he likes me best; I'll talk to him." Tetsuya finished by flashing his dorky little smile, the same one that had gotten him through Muang Pak in style. Tetsuya made it to the doorway before his urge to provoke the Inu-youkai became too great.

"By the way, I'm sure you've noticed but your cell-phone has been ringing for the past three minutes; it might be a good idea to answer that, don't you think..." Tetsuya moved forward before even attempting to finish his question, "…_fluffy?_" He would get a few bruises and cuts later but it was worth it. Still, Tetsuya could only _imagine_ who was calling Sesshoumaru at this time. _'She's probably lost in the market.'_

When Tetsuya entered Inuyasha's room, everything became still for a few moments in time. Inuyasha was busy lying on his bed, just relaxing off the stress.

"Hey there kiddo."

Inuyasha cringed at the last word _kiddo_, bolted up-right and stared Tetsuya down. The glow still hadn't returned to Inuyasha's eyes.

"I ain't _kiddo_ so stop calling me that Kuzuki!" Inuyasha turned around to face the window, his legs crossed and his hands resting in the space the cross provided.

"Yeesh, alright." Tetsuya held up his hands, gesturing that he meant no offense. He took a seat behind Inuyasha and placed his back against the Inu-hanyou. "So I take it that school let you out early today?" Tetsuya joked with a questioning tone in his voice. In return all he received was the universal answer for everything. Tetsuya merely sighed but continues speaking. "Listen, I actually not interested in why your home so early; I don't live here so I won't concerned with what you do at home." He paused a minute to give the hanyou behind him a chance to let it digest. "I actually wanted to talk to you about something completely different. I know things have been difficult for you and I'm sure whatever happened today made your situation worse, which is why, I have a proposition for you."

Tetsuya stood up, leaving the hanyou alone on the bed, "Your test scores came back. Surprise, surprise; you had one of the higher scoring exams."

"So what." Inuyasha countered from his place, still refusing to move even his neck to look at Kuzuki.

"Normally you'd now have a couple years of classes, and then of course there would be patrol-work coupled with some on-the-force training." Tetsuya paused once more. The total time for admission to The Department's task force would be about four years from the point Inuyasha was at now and both of them knew that. Tetsuya turned his head so that, if Inuyasha did turn and look at him, all that could be seen were his lips moving. "Listen, Inuyasha, my partner is transferring out in the next year or so. We both talked about it and we agreed that it would what was best for her. You know she might actually be taking the position of lieutenant in a few years?" When Inuyasha still gave him no response, he continued. "I'll cut to the point; those idiots at the office wouldn't understand the type of partner I need; I won't be able to work with a human. I'm going to request that you be allowed to skip some of the requirements. I think you understand what I'm getting at." Wordlessly, Tetsuya left the room, leaving Inuyasha to ponder on what he had just said.

* * *

"Present" Day

Kagome blindly stood there for a few minutes, simply staring into his eyes. It had been so long since they had actually seen each other; she was almost relieved that they met up. So relieved in fact, she almost let a smile escape her. She quickly covered it up by pushing away from him slightly; still starring into his eyes. It was so strange, to feel as if they were the only two in the world that mattered. She wanted to say something but couldn't; all she was able to manage was her constant, unwavering gaze. He was, give or take some added muscular components, exactly as she remembered him; down to the very distinct glow in his eye that she had long forgotten about.

Realizing that they weren't the _only_ two people on the sidewalk at that moment, as well as the fact that the entire scene was a little awkward, Kagome prepared herself to says something. She wasn't sure what would be appropriate to say however. _'Good morning? No, that's too informal; he'll think I was planning this. I've missed you? What are you saying now Kagome? You haven't missed him! He'll think your psychotic! Hi? Yeah, hi, let's go with Hi.' _Kagome opened her mouth to say something but only rather surprised 'eep' came out. Some foreign object, say, a _hand_, was caressing her backside. Without even thinking about it, Kagome's hand flew up, making contact with Inuyasha's cheek.

"You jerk!" Was all Inuyasha heard as he landed face-first on the gravel. He didn't expect it to hurt _as_ muchas it had but, then again, he really wasn't sure as to why she had slapped him at all.

Tetsuya merely shook his head as a rather frightened street-cop hid behind him, who was terrified by the strength the miko had just shown to his comrade. Tetsuya lifted his head up in the air, seemingly searching for some sort of god to rescue him from his embarrassing friends.

"You know I'm going to tell her it was you right?"

* * *

End Notes: Yeah, I'm beat, this was uber-update. Hopefully this will keep you all satisfied for a couple weeks while I go sleep. Questions? Comments? Hit the little go button so I can get some more reviews here! Thanks again to anyone who has ever review this story!


	12. Almost Forgetting

A/N: Well, his took too sdamn long. Originally I expected the chapter to only be half as long but, I was mistaken...again. Anyway, I have no itneresting news, other than I'm really swamped with work and really tired. This is only finished today because I had a snow day today. Yay snow! Well, here are my shout outs: **_Michael223-_ Thanks for the support!Your appreciation is greatly...erhm...appreciated! _cutebaby_- YEs, I enjoy being evilous...although I had a hard time figuring out what you were trying to say. Perhaps I'll throw in little bits of info to fill the gaps yes? Nah..._LoVe23_- You're always an awesome reviewer, you know that. Glad to hear you liked the ending, it was a bit unintentional. _Melantao_- It was meant to be confusing in general...but if the only thing that confused with Kikyou then umm I'll lay the outline: Masturbation, remorse, Inuyasha, Parents go wild on her ass. K? _midnight87-_ Again we talk enough through email but atleast we can both say that we're hanyous right? Yes, Kikyou is a bit twisted and caniving at times._ Voice of The Mist_- Miroku you idiot indeed. _inufangrrl-_ Did I use enough 'r's? In anycase, thanksfor the review, glad you liked it!** Well, thats all i have to say. I'm tired, I'm getting some white-chocolate (bow-chika-bow-wow...I havent done that in forever) and going to bed. So incase, you're wondering, we're backl to the main plotline. So, in case you like this story as I know few of you do go ahead and relax. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha or any related characters, ideas or copyrighted products stemming from the original Anime/Manga.

* * *

Chapter 11- Almost Forgetting

Scandalous Investigations

* * *

Sango held one truth and one truth alone to be sacred to her: she was a dancer, not a believer. For the past year or so now, that was the only thing that kept her on that disgraceful excuse for a stage with music so poor one could scarcely understand the pain of the lyrics, with people so despicable and pathetic it was sad, no, disturbing to think that two-thirds, if not all, of those horrible creatures would defy the sanctity of morality for simple pleasure; she would dance with clothing so revealing and deceptive that it tore at the fabric of her soul, tearing it apart as it reminded her of exactly what she was, what she forever would be. Her life was not one of the silver-laced lanes and bronze-paved pavilions of the highlife but, instead, that of a down-to-Earth woman who knew the difference between fantasy and reality. It was that same acquired philosophy that had caused her to denounce all ideas of romance and the long sought after, "happily-ever-after" ending. How could she, a woman who had experienced, first hand, the heartache given to those who believe in love, ever believe in romance and romantic meetings?

Her love life was, to be frank, a youkai born from the cold flames of hell. Circa her senior year, Sango had been acquitted from her tenth less than glorious relationship, in which the man in her life was an alcoholic and rapist who, although may not have harmed her, had committed numerous accounts of assault, attempted assault, rape, attempted rape and gang-rape. The "man's" father had been a high-ranking attorney within a certain youkai's firm; his father was able to convince each judge in every blasted courtroom that the accusations were no more than a mere public scandal. Sango, like every judge, had believed that and dated him until some less-than-generous actions were bestowed upon her. Still, her actual heartache didn't begin there. During an environmentalist seminar held in Nagoya, Sango became more than familiar with a pre-med student from Osaka University. Like all the rest, she became infatuated with the cold and malicious bastard, even going so far as to accept a marriage proposal and move into his apartment. After a mere six months, his true cold flame sprout forth; he would ignore her emotional needs for days on end, tempt her with possibilities and mischievous acts he may have or may not have been up to. Not long after, he became violent, letting the flames of his anger seer her face, her body, always burning her from the inside, then the outside; always deriving some sick enjoyment from her pain. Needless to say, she was once again acquitted and moved to Tokyo and thus began her work at **The Neko-Niche**.

So perhaps that's why she was so confused by the scene, unfolding a mere four feet in front of her. It was almost as though the whole event had been staged; her friend dreamy and unaware, strides outward toward what is seemingly nothingness only to be stopped by a handsome…well Sango wouldn't call him handsome, perhaps average, if even…young man. They stop and look longingly into each other's eyes, some mystical force locking them in their pose. Such a splendid and joyous thing that could reaffirm anyone's belief it happiness; so what if the two weren't lovers? They fit the roles quite well and the timing had just been perfect.

And then she saw it.

Sango had to double-take just to double-check if her eyesight was working correctly. If she didn't know any better, she would have said that something was caressing Kagome's rear-end. Even more suspicious was that it seemed to shoot up from the ground; It was the Hand of Hell. It ascended from the depths and emerged from the surfaces, taking with it a few movements and the magic, inspiring moment of the two young people before her, before it slipped backed down into the abyss. Or perhaps she just wasn't paying attention to Miroku as he casually walked over and started giving Kagome's hind-side a good massage.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" It was a familiar voice to her; an old friend whom she had not seen in a couple years now. Snapping back into reality and out of her "thinking-mode," Sango cocked her head toward the assumed origin of the sound to be greeted by those familiar shining blue eyes, those unnatural azúl locks and that incredibly dorky smile. She let out a yelp of joy and surprise, running out to him and embracing him.

"Tetsuya, it's been ages! Where have you been?" She asked, releasing him from her own bear-like embrace. Behind them could hear the screams of Kagome and Inuyasha, cursing at each other for various reasons.

"Oh, you know the drill Sango; working hard but hardly working." He answered, flashing yet another dorky smile.

"You always were a workaholic Tetsuya." Sango teased, laughing at how his countenance dropped into embarrassment.

Shizuko-Sango; daughter of a happy and arranged marriage, she now lives with her brother, Kohaku, in the slums of Tokyo. Her grades during her high-school years were, to say the least, average and her beauty was only stepped upon by the men she dated. She had almost always had a thing for "bad-boys." She wasn't out looking for them, more like they went searching for her. When Sango moved out, she took her brother with her after their parents began drawing papers for divorce. Not wanting the child to see how fierce divorces could become they could become, she fled with the child and with her now ex-fiancé. She chanced upon meeting Agent Kuzuki when her father introduced him to her during her junior year in high-school. They became decent friends and made it a point to meet at least once every few years.

"So, what are you doing…out…?" Sango never was able to finish; the rant between the Inu-hanyou and the miko had grown too loud by this point. Inuyasha, defenseless and shaky, sat his ground on the pavement arguing that he didn't caress Kagome's rear; _'No matter how soft and alluring I'm sure it was, Miroku!' _Inuyasha thought to himself. Kagome, half way from purifying said hanyou, retorted that her ass _was_ touched and that _he_ was the only one who was even close to her.

"I can't believe you! What in the world is wrong with you?" Kagome screeched at him, hurting those _'cute' _and _'adorable'_ fluffy ears of the Inu-hanyou.

"For the last time Kikyou, I didn't grab your ass!" Inuyasha spat back, reaffirming his point.

For the longest while, everything was still after that comment. So still in fact that Inuyasha, being the sometimes slow minded hanyou that he is, believed that she had finally believed him, allowing him to let out a breath he had been holding in since she had first stepped over to him with anger flaring in those big chocolate eyes of hers. That breath he exhaled however, caught in his throat when he glanced back up only to notice that Kagome's anger had grown exponentially. She was by him in three strides then, she began straddling him, gripping his shirt. For a split-second it seemed as if it was a moment of passion; soon the thought ended as she began shaking Inuyasha, quite vigorously, back and forth and occasionally hitting him into the ground.

"What did you just call me you _'adorable' _dog-brain!" She yelled in his face, still shaking him wildly.

Miroku had to feel bad for Inuyasha at this point. He had attributed _a little_ to the hanyou's suffering. Still, even Miroku wasn't so stupid as to call a woman by another's name. _'Oh well. Better Inuyasha than me right?' _Miroku thought. It wasn't until he noticed Kagome _literally_ pounding on Inuyasha that he decided to try and separate the two.

"That's enough you guys, come on; break it up!" Miroku was doing his best to pull Kagome off of Inuyasha, while trying to avoid any of Kagome's sensitive areas that he _may_ be attempted to touch. Hell, he may have been a pervert and, a large one at that (Yokohama Flirting Champion, three years running) but even he knew when not to try a move on a woman…most of the time. "Is this really the time or the place to cause a disturbance?" Miroku asked, now attempting to drag the deranged miko a few feet from the already shocked hanyou. He was able to pull her back about four feet away until he lost his grip and Kagome went right back over to Inuyasha, still shouting at him and raising all hell.

"How could you _dare_ call me by my cousin's name?"

"Will you quit whinin'? It just slipped out that's all. Why are you making a big fuss over this?"

"Do you even remember what my name is you dog-eared baka?" Kagome shot out, her eyes faltering slightly as she laid them upon those fluffy triangles on top of Inuyasha's head. They were always so cute and fluffy and adorable and many other words that she had made up in her head. Sure, those ears _were_ cute, he _was_ handsome but, those features hardly made up for him calling her the slut's name.

Inuyasha's angry and startled composure fell as he came to a dramatic realization. For a split-instant, he couldn't remember what her fucking name was. He turned his head to the right, hoping to higher powers he would be able to remember the name; all he could draw from the crevices of his mind was a blank.

"You can't even remember my name!"

Tetsuya and Sango simply stared at the chaos in front of them. It actually went in a bit of a pattern: Kagome would lunge at Inuyasha, Miroku would divide them apart, Inuyasha would say something stupid as was to be expected and the whole action-sequence repeated. Tetsuya ruffled his hair with a free palm while Sango stood there, mainly unfazed by the whole ordeal. What reason did Sango have to be concerned? It wasn't as if her baby-maker had a chance of being damaged.

"You know," Sango began, "We were just on our way to lunch. Care to join us?"

Tetsuya, followed by Sango and Miroku who was still having trouble dragging the infuriated Miko away from the Inuyasha who sat crossed-legged, with his hands in his lap. Tetsuya let out a smirk directed at Inuyasha and Inuyasha just turned his head. Tetsuya knew _exactly _why Inuyasha's hands were covering his lap. He knew what it was the second Kagome began straddling him, which, coincidently, was exactly why Inuyasha's hands were in his lap. As the group made it into the restaurant, Tetsuya let a comment leave his lips and flutter into Inuyasha's face.

"Listen, I know her hips sensually rocking against you were arousing and all but when you're done masturbating be sure to join us okay?"

* * *

Laughter exploded around the table as the group continued their reminiscing and conversations about their previous affairs and engagements. Patrons of the restaurant had unnoticeably become scarce, leaving the eatery nearly empty for the web of companions now talking and questioning about each others past. Sunbeams pranced in through the glass window, gazing upon the cluster of acquaintances, more specifically on Inuyasha, knocking away the artificial light of the hanging lamps. Each person sat closer to someone they, more or less, knew something about. Sango sat between Kagome and Tetsuya; Tetsuya sat next to Miroku; Miroku sat next to Inuyasha who in turn sat next to Kagome. A certain perverted street cop made an attempt to sit next to Sango but was quickly extinguished after his back and arm slammed into the ground. As anyone could guess, Miroku, once again, made a move on a woman without proper knowledge of her capabilities. When Miroku tried to "evaluate her tenderness," Sango responded with a quick action (her reaction time was 0.1 Seconds [which is way above average) that twisted Miroku's arm behind him and flipped him over onto his back. When he finally came to about a minute and a half later, he awoke to Sango's smirk and Tetsuya's voice.

"Please don't embarrass yourself again Miroku; she took fourth in the Tokyo Annual Judo tournament last year."

After the minor incident, words flowed freely and naturally out of nearly ever person's lips. Everyone's except for Inuyasha however; he merely sat there taking it all in. Cross-armed and shut-eyed, Inuyasha simply refused to engage in the conversation for reasons only known to a select few people; one of whom happened to be sitting a mere two chairs from him.

"Tetsuya, you went to the U.S. recently; what was it like?" came Sango's voice, dancing around the space in Inuyasha's cranium. A moment later another female voice, one he recognized more clearly, chirped in, "He seriously went there?"

"Why yes I did," Tetsuya with sarcastic enthusiasm, "and may I say I had the _best_ time of my life." He took a moment to stir some sugar into his coffee (this would be what, his second or third cup?) before continuing. "Not only was I almost mugged twice, I was also able to spend some time with complete idiots who understand less about their system of government than we do." For dramatic effect, Tetsuya threw his hands into the air and started waving them slightly. "It was like vacationing in a circus-tent! I tell you; those American's have a moral-deficiency disease or something."

"Come now Tetsuya," Miroku began in his most eloquent and charming voice, "America couldn't have been that bad. After all don't _we_ have the highest rating for underage prostitutes and exotic dancers in the world?"

Kagome's stomach muscles tensed once Miroku had finished. '_The highest rating in the world?'_ Kagome's mind bellowed. '_Great job Kagome, you'd just have to be part of the problem.'_ She instinctively snuck a glance in Inuyasha's direction, gauging what his reaction was. Why the hell did she look at him? Hell if she knew but, none-the-less, she did and she found him with an uninterested look, his closed eyes looking past the world into the depths of space and time. For whatever reason she was disappointed by his lack of interest but simply returned to the conversation the rest of the group was carrying on.

The majority of the words seemed focused on Sango and how she was doing; some questions were asked over Kagome but they were basic and boring questions asked by Miroku out of common courtesy. She indulged in her lunch: greens mixed with chunks of crab meat and cheese drizzled with "Italian" dressing, a few salted oyster crackers and a caffeinated beverage she was sure she didn't want. She looked around from side-to-side; first at the laughing Sango, onto the mild-mannered Tetsuya, finally resting her eyes on Inuyasha who still made no move to pay any attention to her.

'_He's either mad at me or really __doesn't __want to talk to me.'  
_"Please excuse me; I need some air." Kagome said as she pulled herself from her chair and moving toward the entrance, accidentally grazing herself past Inuyasha in the process. She noticed his nose twitch a couple times before she slipped out of the glass door of the restaurant.

There was a certain tinge of regret and remorse cumulating in Kagome's stomach. What was the actual purpose she had actually come here for; to be with Sango? She had half of a mind to walk back to her apartment now; they weren't actually interested in her, they wouldn't mind. So what if Sango had been the one to suggest all of this? She was fine yapping with an old friend, she wouldn't mind. Still, she couldn't leave. She would have felt unhappy if she just left Inuyasha there in his own little world without catching up with him. _'There's nothing wrong with catching up with an old...well, maybe not a friend but…' _Part of Kagome understood what her own mind was trying to rationalize and she took the excuse to turn her actions around, march back up to them all and talk to Inuyasha. At least that was the plan; it fell apart somewhere between actually marching and talking to Inuyasha. The moment she turned around, she unknowingly ran into, once again, an object with "certain sternness." Her eyes closed as she heard a plate fall and break on the ground and a small "splat" sound out above her. When Kagome opened her eyes to see what she knocked into, she wanted to laugh but refrained out of kindness.

There was Inuyasha, chocolate frosting dripping around his fluffy-white ears while filling rolled down his face and a cherry, stationed perfectly on the bridge of his nose.

* * *

"Come on Inuyasha, you can't laugh once in awhile? It was funny!"

"Easy for you to say, you weren't the one with cake in your ears!"

Inuyasha and Kagome stood next to each other, more or less, picking up the shards of glass of the ground and wiping down Inuyasha's hair. According to Inuyasha, Tetsuya and Miroku roped him into taking Kagome a piece of cake for dessert (wait, who has dessert after lunch?).

Kagome wiped the remaining crumbs and flakes from Inuyasha's top; taking care to scrub away any frosting from his shirt with the cloth she had grabbed from inside. She then reached up and timidly began shaking down those ears of which she had always enjoyed to see. They twitched as she began cleaning the insides, startling her as she fell forward slightly, moving closer to the Inu-hanyou. She snuck a peak at his eyes, how they reflected the sunlight so brilliantly, how they burned so intensely it made her wonder if they ever literally hurt him. Inuyasha was too caught up in the fact that his hair was already starting to stick together in unattractive lumps. The one thing that didn't show through was his nervousness; he feared that Kagome might _actually_ try and pinch his ears like she had once in the past. He didn't need that right now; especially not with her being so close that she might feel a sudden stab below her waist.

He made no motion to move away from her though when she stumbled forward while cleaning him. Why would he? Why should he? She wasn't sore on the eyes nor was she an idiotic Neanderthal who walked around as if the world was supposed to bend to them without lifting so much as a finger; why should he have to move away from someone who was helping him? Once she finished she bent down to pick up the shards of glass, insisting he not help at all move considering it was her own fault. He tried to shove (well, more like gentle push. Cant mess with Inuyasha reputation though can we) her aside in an attempt to help her but she wouldn't hear anything of it.

Although he didn't say it, she was so much like he had once remembered her. She was strong willed, determined, knew what she wanted in life, had such a spirit to prove herself; he was in awe. Her personal appeal was only shadowed by her beauty really; such a curvy and sexy figure which consisted of a perfectly shaped rear end, shapely and perky breast and a slender and flat stomach; an innocent countenance and an air of compassion and other emotions he couldn't quite place. Truly, she was a masterpiece sculpted from the gods themselves.

He wasn't sure when exactly they had made their way back inside. All he could vividly remember was sitting down at a different table than the rest of group, talking with Kagome about how they had both been and what they had missed.

"So what kind of work are you doing Inuyasha?" Kagome inquired.

"Nothing much now; just working with the Tokyo Police."

"Really? That must be interesting. So I take it the army wouldn't let you in."

"No. Not really anyway…What about you? Where are you working now?"

"Oh, me? Working with a friend in town. Nothing special." Kagome's answer was quick, a bit too quick but that detail went unnoticed between them. The questions got more involved as time passed; "Where are you living now" and "How have things been for you". Kagome gave polite yet deceptive answers, trying very hard to keep her skeletons from falling out of the closet. They talked about their past, what life had been like, paying mind to keep Kikyou out of the conversation as much as possible.

"Are you serious? You really had to live with your brother?"

"Ain't my fault." Inuyasha said as he crossed his arms, "When my parents moved to Europe, they thought it'd be good for the two of us to 'bond' a bit."

"Knowing you that probably didn't go over too well." Kagome teased.

"Hey! He started everything; I was always mindin' my own business!" Inuyasha said slightly embarrassed.

"Hey, calm down Inuyasha. I was only joking." Kagome offered him a smile, much like the one she had originally offered Sango but, this one had a slightly different meaning.

"Y-yeah, right." He said, not bothering to smile back. "So what do you normally do for fun Kagome?" Inuyasha, purposefully changing the subject.

"Oh yeah, with all of the studying I do and the friends I have, I have plenty of time to have fun." Kagome asked sarcastically.

"Feh. You mean to tell me you don't go out or do anything? Don't you have a boyfriend or something?"

Inuyasha composure was rock solid and stayed that way far past when the answer escaped her lips; on the inside, he was a mess. _Goddamn it. Why would I even ask a question like that? It's not like I'm interested in her or anything.' _Oh but he _was_ interested in her; it was something he reconciled with once his heart had begun beating when he first though about asking that question an hour ago. It wasn't as if he was completely love-sick about her but did he have to be in order to get to know her? His answer was the exact same one that she had as he snuck another peak at her silky black hair and big brown eyes, a simple and courteous "no".

"Well, we really should get going." Said Sango, "It was nice to see you again Tetsuya."

"Same here Sango. Don't do anything stupid got it?"

Tetsuya and Sango exchanged a quick hug before Sango motioned to Kagome, signaling for Kagome to leave with her.

"I guess I _should_ get going. I have a lot of work to do today." Kagome gave Inuyasha a small smile before getting up from her chair.

"Hey-uh, wait, Kagome?" Kagome turned towards Inuyasha who was fumbling with his words slightly.

"If you're not busy tomorrow, do you want to- I don't know- hang out or something?"

* * *

Kagome was giddy, almost excited, when she stepped out of the locker room, sporting her same outfit in different colors; dark blue for the skirt, red for the tank-top. She couldn't believe it; first she received a free meal, then she met up with Inuyasha and now they had a date tomorrow. It was almost as if she was in a natural high; things were moving so quickly in her life and nothing seemed to actually be real for her anymore. Even this, her job, her torment, seemed unreal to her. Kagome walked down the steps, waving hello to a few of the women who were going up to get changed before their shifts, and prepared herself for the torment she would soon have to endure.

Such insignificant and meaningless specs of life they were; _all_ of them. Every person in that building was a disgrace to society. They were instigators and perpetuators of the entire economic boom that came from the carnal pleasure industry. Youkai, humans, half-demons, females, males, Africans, Americans, Blue men, Orangemen; there was no discrimination so long as the price was right. It was that philosophy that had, ever since World War II, continued this unyielding cycle of sex and power.

Yet even with this knowledge they carried on their sinful businesses. For many it became a way of life; scouting the talents, searching for the most limber and exploiting their talents for their own selfish desires. The youkai proprietor claimed that it was "just business" which, sadly, was very true. The government had all the authority and power to step in and stop this idiocy but the economic benefits were just too great to pass up. It was a shame to see those poor females (and males) of both youkai and human either work with the overly-flirtatious and drunken wastrels or to dance upon the "stage" with a sea of hungry eyes looming over them.

Kagome couldn't help but show off a sassy smile as she fought her way over to bar. Life was…well, it wasn't good; far from it really but, it was on its way. She was going a date with Inuyasha tomorrow, her rent would be paid off soon and '_I could always try and find some employment elsewhere.' _She thought as what must have been the fifteenth hand of the night caressed her hind-quarters. _'Okay, no more fooling around, the next guy or girl to touch me is seriously getting purified. Not that they don't need to be purified already.'_ As she neared the counter, she spotted the same female barkeep from her first night.

"Hey! Four house specials again please." Kagome piped out cheerfully as she set her tray down.

"Well, well, I didn't expect to see you here after last night. And you're in a good mood? What's the occasion?" She said, taking some mugs over to the tap and beginning to fill them.

"Nothi-well, I guess I can't lie. I have a date tomorrow!"

"Get out of here!" The barkeep's mouth fell open as she dropped a mug from her hands and watched it smash as it hit the ground. "Damn it all." She muttered under her breath. "Where are you guys going? Is he handsome? What does he do? Where'd you meet him?"

"Uh, some restaurant…I think…I forget where he works and I've known him since high school." Kagome said as she helped place the drinks on her tray. Kagome shifted her weight from one foot to the other, hesitating to ask her question. "Hey, I've been meaning to ask you a question though."

"Shoot."

"How were you able to tell I was miko?"

The barkeep let out a small laugh and placed the last of the mugs on the tray. "Be_cause_ we had a miko here once before. She was sweet, about your age."

"Whatever happened to her?" Kagome asked, intrigued that there had been another here like her.

"Beats the hell out of me." She said, shrugging her shoulders and shaking her head. "Just one day, she stopped showing up. Disappeared. Poof."

"Huh, well that's-" Kagome stopped when she heard her customers shouting at her to hurry up. "Got to go, sorry!" Kagome exclaimed as she took her tray and waltzed through the crowd.

"Hey wait!" She began, "You never told me if he was good-looking!" It was useless however, Kagome was already lost among the sea of hopeless.

Once more, Kagome pranced through the crowd and for the first time in her two nights here, not a single person tried to grope her as she made her way across the floor. She was brimming with happiness; for the first time in awhile, she finally had a few moments in her "career" where no one mistreated her. She was so happy in fact, she failed to notice exactly who her customers were.

"Here you are, four drinks for three-" Kagome stopped herself in mid sentence.

One.  
Two.  
Three.

Yep, she had four drinks and only three people were actually sitting at the table. Much more to her displeasure, she could vividly recognize one of them. It was the same bastard who had felt up her leg last night. _'Please tell me he's waiting for someone this time.'_

"What a surprise. If it isn't my favorite and most tempting waitress." He let out the same sly and cunning grin he had shown the first time he had seen her. "Since you've gone through the trouble of getting an extra drink _again_, you might as well join us this time." He reached an arm up, directed for her but she quickly pulled away from him, once again giving him a polite but awkward smile as she pled her case.

"Oh but I just can't! I'm due to go on in a few minutes you see and-" Her voice jumped in pitch as an arm around her waist pulled her down into the soft, cushiony couch next to the man. She never realized just how isolated from the world one of the actual booths could be; people dancing by, music and lights blaring, drowning out all attempts to communicate from more than about a foot away. It was Dark in the booth. There was no light from the world around her, only the artificial light the ones around her wished there to be. No one could see as the hand that abducted her moved her legs apart, gently rubbing the inside of her thighs, pushing up the already snug skirt.

"It wasn't a request." He whispered into her ear, his words laced with lust and greed. He continued for a few moments, gently pushing up against her womanhood with no objections from Kagome, at least, so was his thought. He looked towards the other animals at the table who just responded with cocked eyebrows and questioning glances. As the man glanced back at where Kagome was supposed to be, he realized that she was in fact, gone. When he took notice to his hand however, he saw, though didn't feel, that it wasn't moving. Just as he had tried to kill her innocence and purity, so too had she killed the nerves in his arms, if only for a time being. The difference between Kagome and that sad pathetic excuse for a man was that she succeeded.

'_That'll teach him to try and fondle me.'_ Kagome though, her head drooping as a single tear slipped down her cheek. She couldn't believe herself, even allowing him to do that for a second. She was supposed to be going on a date with someone tomorrow; why did she have to act like such a slut now? Why did things like this always have to happen to her? Why did she allow him to even _get_ that close?

"Kagome!" Kagura's voice echoed throughout the club, despite the hundreds of patrons who kept on partying despite the demonic outcry. "Get you ass on stage, NOW!"

Kagome quickly ran around to the backstage and pushed through the curtain. _'Okay Kagome, you can do this. Stay focused, don't get too into it and don't do anything you'll regret.'_

She started off slowly as the music flowed from the sound system, taking time to move her body from side to side and arch her back against the pole for good measure. She backed into now, letting the friction she created pull her skirt up slightly, exposing the blue thong she was wearing for the world to see. She couldn't help but show off, she had every right to after all. She unbuttoned her skirt and let it fall to the floor, grinding her womanhood and her breast into the pole.

'_I can't believe I ran into Inuyasha today. Even more, I can't believe he asked me out! I mean, why would he do something like that? We knew each other but not that…'_

Kagome twirled around the pole a couple times before shoving her backside into it, grinding slightly as her pugnacious breast jiggled slightly in their cloth container. She peered into the crowd, searching among the disconnected eyes for something, anything to keep her attention from drifting off too far. She crawled up the stage, still searching for someone or something, snapping the straps of her top off, allowing it to fall by the wayside as she moved further up, her breast, tender and succulent, bare for the world to see.

'_Oh great, how am I going to explain __this__ to him? Oh, Inuyasha honey, I forgot to mention, I work as a stripper downtown; you have no problems with that right? Wait, "honey"? Who says we'll even…like we'll get...'_

Kagome loosened the thong around her waist, showing off her perfect figure yet still leaving her womanhood covered from any wandering eyes. She danced back up to pole, forcing herself against it as she ground into it. Her searching eyes landed on the barkeep, who was dramatically close to the man who had tried to seduce her earlier. For a moment, Kagome left her little world of dancing as the script played out on the real-world stage.

He was defiling her in his own way, right in front of everyone; his acid-like words melting away her outer-shell as she allowed him to caress and touch her. She noticed as his hands skipped below her waist and the barkeep turned her head away. Everything in Kagome's mind screamed, blared for her to go kill him, to literally waltz of the stage in her birthday suit if it came to that and to just murder him then and there. Her mind screamed for her friend to defend herself, only to stop when her friend latched onto him and snuggled into him, relinquishing any thought of violence Kagome had. Instead, the barkeep looked as though she was just pinched as the two walked out the doors to **The Neko-Niche.**

'_What the hell just happened? Is she alright? Oh, she'll be fine; she's worked her long enough. Now back to seducing my Inu…wait, what!_

As Kagome's music came to a conclusion, she took notice that not only was she massaging the pole with her body but also one of her breasts. She quickly gathered her clothes and pranced off, her face glowing a vibrant red. Once backstage, she could already hear one of the taunts that would be thrown at her, all in good-humor of course.

"See? Now that you've been through the hardest part, touching yourself on stage doesn't seem so bad right?"

* * *

Inuyasha awoke with a start; someone was knocking on his door. He hopped off of his bed and threw on a light shirt, still warm from his constantly changing nightly body temperature. His keen amber eyes picking up the little light around the apartment, he navigated the rooms only stubbing his toe once on the corner of a table. When Inuyasha opened the door, his nose wrinkled in disgust. The smell of sex, sweat and pain finding their way into his smell receptors.

Tetsuya stood in the doorway; his hair mangled and now barely standing up, darks bags of sadness hanging underneath his eyes and his clothes thrown on at what seemed to be the last minute. He was a horrible representation of the man Inuyasha knew so well.

"Feh, don't tell me your mate kicked you out of the house." Inuyasha mocked. As soon as Tetsuya's glazed eyes turned to look at him, Inuyasha could see that whatever the problem was, it was no laughing matter. What Tetsuya said next though, shook him to the core and reminded him exactly _why_ he was doing his job.

"They found another one Inuyasha." He said, "Someone else has died because of this thing."

* * *

End Notes: Well, how was it? I actually almost forgot where I was going with this story lol. Good thing my mind reminded me with this death. Oh well, I'mm sure this chapter was horrible. Coments? Questions? Concerns? Leave them in a review and check back nest time if I interest you.


	13. Switching Gears

A/N: Howdy. As you know, it's been well over a week since my last update and for that I'm terribly sorry. This chapter was NOT meant to be as long as it is and that's why I gave it a bit more time. Also, I might have been sleeping for a bit of it. IT didn't turn out _completely_ the way I wanted it to but it came out close enough. So, here are my responses to the last reviews: _**cutebaby**__**-**_**Glad you're happy but you never did tell me what else you had to say! **_**Voice of the Mist-**_** Here's the update. Snap ****snap ****snap. **_**Rawr-DarkMiko911-**_**My eyes a****re sore from all the writing. My skills are ****adequte**** but not where I'd like them. Could be much better. Glad to hear you liked it though! Also, ****hoo****-rah! I ****has**** a fan! **_**LoVe23-**_** I could tell you how I do it but, if I did, I'd have to kill you ****hahaha****, no ****no****, I seriously would. Glad you still like the story though. **_**midnight87-**_** Plans change, so sorry in advance. I bet Stephen King writes at night because he writes WAY too much. **_**inufangrrl**__**-**_** Glad that you are still reading and that you are happy with it. **_**Melantao**__**-**_** That's okay, I can hardly write them, you're not missing much. If last chapter was a good update to you, this one will certainly ruin it! **If these responses aren't long enough, I'm sorry but I'm kind of in a hurry! Anyway, I have no announcements other than to check my profile in two days for any announcements I have! With that said, here's the twelfth chapter! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha, nor do I own any related TMs, copyrights or anything that could possibly bring me revenue related to InuYasha. However…well, no however.

* * *

Chapter 12- Switching Gears

Scandalous Investigations

* * *

Clear skies dotted with little white specs were all that the two could see. The air was crisp and chilly, as was common during Spring nights. Not a cloud was in the sky, allowing the few stars that were strong enough to cut through the blackness of the night. It was picture of pure romantic fantasy that was only disrupted by the sounds below as they bellowed against the sky, drawing forth the noise of attention. Below the sky, on the hell that was downtown Tokyo, could be seen the jittery movements of pedestrians as they scrambled on the edge of yellow tape and black uniform; all talking and exclaiming in one sound wave of horror. Radios went off, relaying dispatch information and signaling for various medical aids. Atop the roof, two hanyous listened intently to the talking, the whispering and static buzzing of radios turning on and off.

Inuyasha leaned his back against the door to the roof, ears flickering as his sense retrieved the noises flowing every which way. Most of the information was worthless to him but perhaps if he listened a smidge longer, something would reveal itself to him, settling some anguish that began brewing inside of him. Who the hell knew at this point what Inuyasha's problem was; he was probably just tired. After all, Agent Kuzuki had basically pulled him out of his apartment just to check out the crime scene.

Inuyasha's eyelids opened, amber flecks in the corner of his eyes staring at his partner. Tetsuya just laid there with his arms behind his head, his weight solely supported by the square marble sheets he stretched out upon. His blue eyes starred upwards and onwards, his vision stretching to what appeared to be the vastness of space itself; all reflected itself on his pupils. Inuyasha could only shake his head; how could he blame Tetsuya for his own unhappiness?

He would never admit as he knew Tetsuya would but Inuyasha hated-nay-_despised_ this particular case. It was just such an agonizing and gut-wrenching case to watch unfold in front of the city. There were so many variables to throw in and, even though they were ready to take out the honcho, there was still so much that could happen to the city in four days time. Inuyasha hadn't been a detective as long as some others but he had been one long enough; this was his city goddamn it. How could he sit back and watch as people died in the place that _he_ was paid to protect. It was robbery to promise a service that he couldn't fulfill. These were his people and he couldn't just sit around and watch them die; he already had to witness something like that.

Inuyasha silently walked over, taking care to avoid Tetsuya, to the ledge of the roof, peering down at an estimated hundred and forty-five people; clamoring, pushing and questioning as to what was going on. There were far too many faces for him to pick out any in particular, though considering how huge a city Tokyo really was, Inuyasha had been positive he wouldn't know any of the people anyway. His vision traced around the mass of people, landing on the chalk outline of the victim and of the steady stream of police cars that had begun to pull away.

"I'll be honest with you mutt-face," Tetsuya stated, his eyes still glued to the heavens; "I'm not sure how much longer I can deal with this." Inuyasha turned his back to the scene, though his head still remained tilted to observe the events.

"Feh. Take a number Kuzuki." Came his gruff reply a moment later. Inuyasha strode over to where his partner lay sprawled on the roof, taking a seat and making sure not to breathe from his nose, lest he smell the envious scent of love on his partner.

"Maybe she was right Inuyasha." Kuzuki said, turning his gaze toward Inuyasha. "Maybe this kind of work just isn't what I should be doing right now."

"Will you knock it off?" Inuyasha near shouted. "Listen, you can feel bad for yourself later bird-brain. Right now let's focus on what the hell happened to that girl."

Sitting upright, Tetsuya let a small smile show through his lips. This would be the first time in awhile he could actually say it but, Inuyasha had a point. This wasn't about him or his needs, nor was it the time to discuss his wants or ambitions; it was about the victims and no one else.

"Good point Inuyasha. The patrol that found the girl couldn't really do much, besides pointing out that she was dead and that it was pretty recent." Tetsuya folded his arms and closed his eyes, seemingly reaching into the recesses of his mind to drag out the rest of the information. "The Department's medical examination team is going to dig up the records on the other victims and compare the analysis to this one. When she arrived it was obvious she died because of the drug but apparently I didn't have "clearance" to receive the state of the body."

"You mean Lieutenant Amaya pulled your viewing privileges." Inuyasha said, turning his head towards the direction of the wind, which, coincidently, happened to be the direction he would need to face in order to see Tetsuya.

"That was a tad bit perverted don't you think Inuyasha?" Tetsuya asked pleasantly, hearing Inuyasha mutter something along the lines of 'only if you're Miroku'. "Moving on though, the medical examiner is holding the meeting tonight around ten. Since the body is fresh, the examiners are going to take the time to really study how the drug affects the brain and the chemistry behind the deaths."

Inuyasha merely nodded his head, paying little-to-no attention to what Tetsuya continued to say. Something, some word Kuzuki had spoken began to plague his mind and he could vividly think of what it was. _Fresh_.

_He could vividly hear it; her screams erupting into his sensitive ears as the claw swiped away at her heart, exposing it to the warm and uneasy air in the room. Blood curdling screams, capable of shattering glass erupted from her mouth as the demon bit further into her, lapping up every ounce of blood. Everyone took a step backward but no one turned away. All were too caught up in the liquid spilling forth from Akemi's frame. And still the youkai devoured more, ripping open her chest cavity and dining on the organs before drinking more and more blood that had already escaped from its previous home. Inuyasha could only watch in horror as the scene continued; he couldn't remember when he was pushed out of the way. All he could remember was the sound of the handgun going off behind him_Eventually, Tetsuya's voice pulled him up from the dark memories and back into reality. Actually, he did it with a rather intrusive question.

"So, what was the deal between you and that Kagome girl? Huh _Agent Tadashi_? Huh?" Tetsuya asked, nudging Inuyasha in the ribs.

"Will you knock it off? I just knew her from a few years ago." Inuyasha retorted, uttering a silent "Feh" as he turned away. "Oh? And is that why you were so quick to ask her out?" Kuzuki questioned, wrapping an arm around Inuyasha's shoulder. "Inuyasha, ye old-dog, why do you have to hide it? You're infatuated with her; it's written all over your face. So I should take it this is the mystery girl from your past that you refuse to comment about? It is isn't it?" Tetsuya had to be on drugs, he just had to be; no one in all of Japan was that hyper out of the blue. According to Tetsuya, only the Americans were so weird as to be constantly hyper. The Americans and the British.

"Will you just shut up! Damn it, what happened to promising not to bring it up? Huh Kuzuki?" Inuyasha yelled, unable to hide the tint of his face from Tetsuya. "I knew it!" Tetsuya exclaimed, standing up and heading over to the ledge. "Well then we don't have much time until your date tonight do we? I'll round up Miroku and we'll be over to help you pick out an outfit and everything, since I'm sure you have no clue what the hell you're going to do to impress her…well…maybe you have something in mind."

"Oh hell no! Who said I needed your help? And don't you even think of bringing Miroku over or I swear, I'll kill ya' both!" Inuyasha shouted and lunged at Kuzuki who was able to skip to the side and watch as the Inu-hanyou crashed, face first into the stony ledge. Tetsuya gave a wave-off and began hopping off towards his home. Inuyasha's mind was buzzing slightly; so much had just taken place before him. First they were talking about drugs, then about Kagome and then who knows what. If there was one thing Inuyasha knew for sure though it was this: he sure as _hell_ wasn't about to tell Kuzuki anymore tales about his past.

The two had a long standing history together, stretching back to when Inuyasha had moved in with Sesshoumaru. Agent Kuzuki had been a good…well, in complete honesty, Sesshoumaru had no friends, merely (in Inuyasha's words) a list of people he would refrain from killing. Truth be told, Sesshoumaru did have _one_ friend (or one better) but that's a story for another day. Tetsuya had made it a habit to visit Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha more often once he learned that Inuyasha would be interested in a career in the service. The fushichou and Inu-hanyou began conversing and friendship bloomed from there. A rather strange, violent and complex friendship but friendship none-the-less. As for the tales that were exchanged about each other's past, they've always been kept secret. (And secrets shall stay secret so long as time permits. Thankfully, time is impatient so secrets can't stay secrets forever.)

* * *

Inuyasha ascended the yellow staircase that guided his path to the fourth floor, taking his time to move from one miniature platform to the next while his anger and nervousness engulfed him. Everything was planned out in his head, from start to finish, in a near excruciating detail that even he wasn't aware of. With an anxiety unperceivable by the eye (any eye), Inuyasha managed through another flight of stairs while his mind trampled through all of the possible situations he could find himself in. The only thing that gave away his fear (if you will) was the near constant twittering of his ears which was so amazingly quick that to any human eye it seemed as though they were sitting still. That is, unless they were touched and then the human most likely would have his finger severed.

_"Well, well Inuyasha; I must say you're looking rather spiffy this evening." Miroku said with his index on his chin, checking the outfit Inuyasha had on. __"I dare say; you __**must**__ be trying to impress the lady. __Looks like all of that advice I gave you paid off!" Miroku finished, patting the Inu-hanyou on the head while repeatedly saying "such a good boy". Inuyasha remained ever cam however, his face carved into a __sly and cryptic grin__; his forearm tensi__ng as he mentally refrained from whacking Miroku upside his temple. _

_"Kuzuki…"Inuyasha stated, his anger seeping out with his speech, "What did I tell you about bringing Miroku here?" Inuyasha's claws flexed in his seat as Miroku riffled his silver mane. Whether or not he was upset purely because of what Miroku was doing or because Inuyasha had __**actually**__ combed his hair for once is still up for debate._

_"Oh be quiet Inuyasha." Tetsuya said, guiding Miroku away from Inuyasha's once (what fan-girls would call) gorgeous silver locks. "Now please Inuyasha, try not to be your usual self okay? Well, that would defeat the purpose of her learning about your actual personality. But then again, if she learns more about you then she'll probably hate you." Tetsuya puzzled out loud, wiping off Inuyasha's blood-red collared shirt and the __black__ long sleeved shirt that complimented his hair (who else can say that their clothes show off their __natural __hair?). "Well, looks like you have a bit of dilemma eh Inuyasha?"_

_Miroku plopped down on a wooden chair opposite of Inuyasha, landing gracefully. "True enough Kuzuki. Perhaps you should let me come along then Inuyasha. __This way if__ she attempts to purify you__ because of that little __**incident**__ then perhaps my own spiritual abilities will be able to stop it."_

_"Miroku, you're about as spiritual as a can of worms." Tetsuya said with a small laugh. "What? I'll have you know I scored with top marks on my spiritual test back in the day. How dare you compare me to a gathering of small-minded bait." Miroku dramatically exclaimed, putting his hand to his heart in fake hurt. "Small-minded is right." Inuyasha pitched in, grinning as Miroku simply lowered his eyelids at the two hanyous. _

Inuyasha stopped at a numbered door, matching the one Kagome had told him to come to. He tried listening inward but he could only hear his own pulse as it resonated violently against his ears. _'Alright, this is it.'_ He thought to himself, raising his hand to knock on the door; his wobbling hand barely able to make the needed motions. Finally his hands and mouth worked together, one knocking on the door while his lips sprout forth a "Kagome, are you there?" When he looked at the side of the door however, his countenance stooped slightly as he noticed a small white button which was obviously the doorbell. _'Great,' _he thought with his palm to his forehead, _'Not only do I look like a jerk for shouting to her but I didn't even notice the doorbell. Smooth.'_ Even louder than his own heart-rate, a shuffling could be heard inside along with the sound of objects falling to the ground coupled with a small squeal. After a few painfully long moments, the door seemingly opening itself, Kagome emerged from her barely lit apartment with a pleasant smile that he noticed had instantly appeared on her face.

Inuyasha stood, dumbstruck, for a minute or so before saying a word. He took a minute to take in the entirety of the situation around him; physical or otherwise. First of all, Kagome looked simply…hell, no word could describe it; she was surely a sight to behold with her hair hanging loosely and swaying slightly with every movement she made, the sky-blue and sunlight-yellow outfit she wore which clung to her form yet left the mind hungering for so much more and then there was her pure, unmasked face which showed, almost sparkled as her smile imprinted itself on his heart. Secondly there was his heart which he swore one day he would stab with a butter-knife. Its constant ferocious beating mimicking, if not surpassing, the rhythm he had felt when with Kikyou; signals jutted fourth traveling to his own conscience, screaming not to fuck this date up.

"Hey." Inuyasha greeted, his voice trailing off by the final second. Kagome simply, smiled brighter and mouthed a small 'hi' as she made a bold move and embraced the Inu-hanyou in a small hug. Kagome, pulled away (far too quickly to the Inu-hanyou who had melted under her touch yet had been too stupid to actually hug her back) and said, "It's really nice to see you again Inuyasha." Inuyasha just let out a rather inaudible "feh" and turned around. "Yeah, whatever. We should really get going though." He said as he lowered a knee to the ground and turned his head towards Kagome. Kagome cocked her head slightly, wondering _'What exactly does he want me to do?'_

"Well what are you waiting for?" Inuyasha said, "Get on."

* * *

Gusts of air whizzed past Kagome, sending her hair backwards and allowing it to swivel and shake in the wind. She was once again aboard the Inuyasha Express Transit System and to be completely honest, she loved every minute of it. Hell, what wasn't there to love? She felt nearly weightless as she soared through sky that was physically impossible for her alone to reach, her being was bounded from rooftop-to-rooftop in amazing levels of speed, and air resistance would hit her square in her face and sting her eyes which gave her the perfect excuse to bury her face into Inuyasha.

Yes, _that_ was the greatest part of this entire date; Kagome was able to bury herself into Inuyasha's being, (though not the other way around) if only for a few minutes. Indeed, she was truly smitten and bitten by the disease which had once infected her blood-stream and caused an emotion known as jealousy to plague her own thoughts. _'I'm older and mature now, I can totally admit to myself __and__ him if I have to. Inuyasha, I was totally jealous of you and Kikyou. Jeez, I wonder how he would respond to that.'_ She wondered to herself, lifting her head slightly to view his ears as they twitched and jiggled with every leap and bound he made. She liked those ears, always had and she figured she probably always will and as long as she played her cards right _'And as long he isn't a complete jerk like he always was to me.'_She could see those ears whenever she wanted to. The ears twitched once more and she giggled slightly, still basking on the thought of how much she liked them.

"What's so funny?" Inuyasha shot back at her, nervous that he might have done something stupid such as taking a wrong turn, which, he actually had done when she buried her face into his clothes for the fifth time. So all in all, he took about five wrong turns. "Nothing Inuyasha but do you have to go so slow?" Kagome teased, knowing very well that he was already going fairly quickly. "By the time you get us there it'll be time for breakfast." She laughed slightly while talking, knowing it would intimidate him so. She was rewarded with a loud 'feh' and a steady acceleration of speed, blowing more air into her face. She let out a silent sigh, guiding her head back down against his back, wrapping her arms around him as she did. Kagome didn't notice as his body became flustered, nor did she notice the small grunt that escaped his lips; she _did_ however, notice as Inuyasha's hand collided with the strange katana he had around his waist. Honestly, who brings a katana on a date?

The semi-flight continued for another few minutes; an enjoyable, wonderful and sense-numbing few minutes. As the two landed on the sidewalk in a remodeled section of Tokyo, Inuyasha took Kagome's hand and led her into a one of the buildings. Inside were beautifully crafted tables, made from the pure marble and decorated with white linen cloths; chairs sanded and bathed in chrome to just barely reflect the rays of golden light that emitted from the lamps on the tables, dressed with white-colored leather padding. All dining areas were arranged in circular fashion, forming numerous circles of enjoyment stretching from the most common seats, to the most expensive; the latter of which were positioned near a sculpture of General Seiichu Kuno, a military leader from a generation before who happened to be revered by the owner, with water running down the sides that landed on small pebbles in a basin below the feet of the sculpture. It was even more breathtaking to Kagome when a waiter called Inuyasha by his surname and directed them to a table, three rings (out of a possible seven) away from the sculpture.

"Inuyasha," Kagome began, her voice paralleling that of a whisper, "You didn't have to do all of this for me. I mean, how am I supposed to act to all of this?" Inuyasha tilted his head and blinked a few times, a snapshot of pure puzzlement. "What do you mean?" He asked, unsure of what she was referring to.

_'He can't be serious, can he? This may be nice but I refuse to believe he does this __all__ of the time.' _"Come on Inuyasha, you know what I mean; the fancy cloths, the well-kept rooms, the_ fountain_. It all screams 'over-priced'. Look, I mean, even the fo-"

It wasn't until that moment that Kagome finally looked around at the tables of the other diners. Not just looked, but _noticed_ something that gave away the entire objective of the establishment. Some watery, some dry; some on plates, some in bowls; everything really hit her and she noticed and then saw what the appetizer was in front of her. She let out a sigh and a small chuckle, holding back the giggles that threatened to ruin the atmosphere of where he had taken her; things did seem a bit too perfect and now she knew why. Even though it didn't bother her and Kagome knew she would still have a good time, it was still quite a shock once she realized one little detail about where she was.

She was in a ramen house.

* * *

Agent Kuzuki moved silently down the gray-tiled hallways, turning on a dime and making sure his feet didn't scuff the recently mopped floors. Tubes of white light stretched through the walkways, hanging parallel to the ceiling. Agent Kuzuki arrived at two steel doors, marked with medical hazard signs and warnings for contaminated personnel. Checking his watch, he noted his tardiness and straightened the bleach-white lab coat he had been given while adhering a confident smile to his face. Pressing in the steel mechanism attached to the doors, he quickly stepped inside, letting the doors fall back into place behind him.

One relatively small light-bulb hung from a metal case, illuminating a white sheet that covered some form. Lights bounced off of the cloth, creating a glowing appearance to the creature that inhabited the underside. Small flecks of red could barely be seen from his distance but Kuzuki saw them, had made sure to notice those small, seemingly insignificant dots. Besides the metal table on which the assumed body rested on, only two other things were visible in the scarce light the hanging lamp provided; one of the medical examiners, a young girl from a prestigious graduate school who had come to The Department on recommendation, and Lieutenant Amaya.

"Sorry I'm late everyone, you wouldn't believe the traffic those medical types create." Agent Kuzuki said as he smiled at Lieutenant Amaya.

Lieutenant Amaya's words were cold and ruthless, but mostly distraught, as she sternly commanded, "Shut it Kuzuki."Agent Kuzuki could only quirk an eyebrow, wondering what had made her so distressed.

"As I was saying, after numerous examinations, we were able to determine that this new drug mimics the high of a methamphetamine with the overdose effects mimicking that of a completely different drug known as rohypnol." The medical examiner spoke with hardly any interest or caring, wishing only to be back in the lab analyzing more subjects, not wanting to deal with actual people. "While we haven't been able to decipher why this is at a molecular level, we have confirmed that it definitely spreads with the blood and that it affects the brain in a counter-clockwise fashion, starting with vision and ending with auditory abilities."

"I'd hate to interrupt," Kuzuki began, moving next to the Lieutenant, "But aren't we hear to learn about the state of the body and _not_ about things we already have information about?" The Lieutenant merely shuffled a glance in his direction before looking back at the medical examiner, who of which still looked as though this was the dullest part of her entire day. The medical examiner shrugged her shoulders and moved over to the cloth, placing her fingers delicately on the stitched edges.

"Fine, have it your way. A few things you'll probably notice are the strangle marks around her neck, caused most likely by a rope since the mark is to thin to be a hand or tail, lacerations on her thighs, legs and arms; then of course there is the obvious bruising of her mons-pubus as well as tearing in her…_sensitive_ area…"

Kuzuki leaned into Lieutenant Amaya, his voice barely qualifying to be a whisper, "I sincerely hope you don't intend for me to check for that Hanako." Lieutenant Amaya merely kept her head straight forward, her eyes cold and unwavering as she said, "If this get's too disgusting for you, it's alright if you turn away." It was a stern statement but it was said in such a concerned way.

Kuzuki let out a single laugh. "Have some faith in my Hanako! After all, I did survive lao-" His breath hitched in his throat once the covers were pulled off, his breakfast threatening to resurface with companions. His pupils caved inward, leaving only a blue sea over the whites of his eyes. His once cocky and confident smile pulled back, expressing his fear as his lips quivered and twitched, drawn back from the sheer shock.

It was something out of Edgar Allen Poe's twisted and dark fairytales; an unimaginable abomination of flesh and blood. There was no sound, there was no smell; there was the sight of it, the horrifying and nightmarish appearance of the body before it was prepared for a wake. There had been so much the medical examiner had failed to mention; the bruising and tearing was a gross understatement, the tissue around the area must have been penetrated with a gopher to make a hole that size, tearing at the flesh and obliterating the reproductive organs inside.

Kuzuki could feel a hand latch onto his own as his solemn blue eyes, trailed further up the atrocity. Stretching from her taken purity, something had traced all the way up to the bottom of her neck. Neither the word cut nor gash could properly describe the line however. It had literally torn her apart, ripping through her skin and exposing her bones and vitals to the air; her chest cavity had been ripped apart and part of her heart had been slashed and bitten, the other organs had similar bites and slashes as well.

"I promise we didn't do this to her. Since the body came in like this, we're labeling it as a homicide but since obviously that drug you've been trailing had a part, we thought you'd like to see." The medical examiner said the entire thing in a nonchalant voice and trailed off to some other body she had to examine.

* * *

_Kagome slid off of Inuyasha and began walking the two blocks to her apartment complex. It was notably silent, both of their vocals exhausted from the constant conversing and laughing they had recently done. Dinner had been a leisurely affair; a few bowls of ramen with a main course of happiness and contentment. They had been able to relate in a way, telling of a few embarrassing moments from each of their own lives and discussing current political and social events in Japan. Still the silence loomed like a light gray cloud during the summer; tension abundant in the air was both reviewed and replayed each event. Their footsteps became symmetrical as Kagome stepped closer to Inuyasha; their shoulders touching as her hand slightly grazed his with every couple of steps.__ She snuck one last peak at the fluffy ears on top of his head as they moped with every step closer to her apartment.__Eventually they arrived at the door to the complex and Kagome pushed slightly ahead of him, a brilliant smile shining on her face._

_"Well, I have to admit Inuyasha," Kagome said, turning to face him, "I had a really good time tonight."_

_"Yeah..." Inuyasha responded, his eyes looking off to the side, trying desperately to avoid her grateful (and some other emotion tagged with an "ing") gaze. He failed and became swept away in the moment, paralyzed by the holding ability of that stare. Neither moved for a few moments, held in place by some incomprehensible power. "I should get going." Inuyasha muttered, his ears twitching as he turned his head away._

_"Alright; __let's try and do this again sometime, okay Inuyasha?" Kagome said, turning towards the door, not waiting for an answer. __'It would make things a bit more dramatic wouldn't it? Wouldn't cause him to think about another date? Possibly?'__ She shouldered these thoughts as she prepared to open the door, only to be twirled around and moved into strong and capable arms; staring directly into amber orbs that vibrated with kindness and compassion. She barely had time to utter his name before Inuyasha's lips were placed upon her own, enveloping her in warmth and…_

"Ow!" Kagome cried, rubbing the back of her head with one hand, clinging her now familiar circular tray with the other.

She was back at **The Neko-Niche** now, dressed as a sluttish naval officer and conversing with the young woman she had grown to be able to talk with. Kagome placed the tray back down on the counter, loading it with the drinks she had asked for before she had been so rudely hit on the head. She scowled at the young woman for whacking her, keeping the look plastered on her face even once she had finished.

"You're the one that wanted to know so badly." Kagome said, crossing her arms. The bartender just used her hands to push on the counter and retort, "I didn't say you had to go into details! Geez, just try and make me jealous why don't ya." She finished with a chuckle, going back to cleaning out some of the used mugs.

"Sorry, I guess I couldn't help it." Kagome said cheerfully, clasping her hands together. Once again, the calling of her presence could be heard from across the room, even with the music and talking and shouting occurring. "I have to go but get this," Kagome began, inching forward slightly, "He wants to go out again tomorrow!" She squealed out. Kagome gave a quick farewell wave before grabbing her tray and hurrying to her table.

The barkeep just shook her head, counting all of the times Kagome had mentioned the hanyou's ears.

"You know," She said to no one in particular, "I bet she has an ear-fetish."

* * *

End Notes: Questions? Comments? Leave them in a review and I'll be happy to reply. By the way, midnight, don't kill me please. Now, if you like my story, go to my profile and look at my recommendations!


	14. Felis Domesticus

A/N: Salutations readers. It's been a long couple of weeks and my mid-spring break is only a week away. My update is extremely late and for that I'm sorry; I've been dreading to write anything for awhile since I have to write a short-story for my friends Birthday, my IA by Monday and then this. However, this is finally done and you can all bask in another chapter that will take awhile to read. Anyway, here are my responses to all of my reviews: _**Voice of the Mist: **__**Kay, muahahaha. That good enough? **__**Michael: **__**Now Michael, I can't give away plotline no matter how much I agree with you. Thanks for the review. **__**Meggie:**__** Sorry it's so confusing. It's one of those read between the lines story. Glad you like it! **__**Melantao: **__**Are you insinuating that I have dirty or sexual scenes in my writing? Good because you'd be right. **__**LoVe23: **__**Of course I wouldn't not not not not not not kill you. **__**Midnight87: **__**You'd kill me for what I have planned for the bartender. **__**Cutebaby: **__**That actually took a few reads for me to figure out what you meant. **__**Inufangrrl: **__**I'm always unsure about how many 'r's…**_ Anyway, once again, I apologize for the late update as well as any mistakes present. I wanted to get this ready for today and only finished awhile ago. This needs to be posted because I hate this and the next chapter. As long as you keep reading, I'll keep writing so tell me if this has turned horrible. If not, relax and, as always…Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I, "Damien" GodOfFlame101, do hereby express that I do not have ownership of any registered Trademarks, Copyrights or revenue related to, received from or made from the Anime/Manga InuYasha. I do however express my ownership of any created characters in this fiction not mentioned by the Anime/Manga (to the most specific detail) and would like to renounce my title as Character Ingenionair and accepted the lesser title of Gifted Anonymous. Also, it comes with double prize money…on that note, I own none of the original script or animation/acting of Futurama.

* * *

Chapter 13- Felis Domesticus

Scandalous Investigations

* * *

Warm, delicious liquid landed on his tongue; sparks of joy trickled down his throat as his head tilted back slightly, dazed by pleasure and remembrance. He took care to be courteous and polite; never slurping the liquid, never taking in a surplus amount quickly and by making sure his tongue didn't explore so much. It had been so long since he had actually tasted this kind of happiness; the Paradise of everything was only heightened by his subconscious who related the color to the human girl he had just seen no more than a few hours ago; his mind substituting her flavor for the one currently in his mouth. His mouth contorted into a small smile as most of the substance disappeared, lost forever in the black hole that he called a stomach.

Setting his mug down on the round metal table with a sigh, Inuyasha's eyes finally opened after the several seconds of intense drinking he had gone through. Inuyasha's left hand then began resting on the surprisingly comfortable gray recliner in Tetsuya's apartment; his eyes glancing at the oddly painted walls. The closest wall, located left of him, had received several coats of cerulean colored paint. On it hung some of Agent Kuzuki's old memoirs including various documents and a couple letters. Just ahead of him, the north wall was painted a magnificent lime on which was located some books Inuyasha surely didn't care about, a humble picture box and a couple photographs of various people Tetsuya had met. On the wall closest to his right, Inuyasha could see pictures of Tetsuya and his mate; all happy and jubilant with mysterious smiles adhered to their faces. It was painted a majestic yet surprising saffron color.

Inuyasha's ears twitched as the sound of running water could be heard from another room in the apartment; almost a lifetime had passed since Inuyasha had last stepped into this apartment. Last time he had been here the walls had been bare and sorrow seemed to cake the air he had to breathe. Taking a look at his shaking partner, Inuyasha noticed how twittery and jittery Tetsuya's hand had just become; his fingers perpetually tapping the white recliner as his ever unblinking eyes stared continuously at the lime-colored wall.

"Look if this is a bad time then…" Inuyasha let out, letting his voice trail out as Tetsuya's shaking continued; Kuzuki's eyes convulsing shut as he attempted to steady his involuntary motions.

"It's just this damned season." Tetsuya responded as his hands clenched shut, allowing the strained tides of his eyes to look wearily at his dear friend. Regaining his composure, Tetsuya offered a jubilant smile in his direction. "Isn't Spring just the most wonderful season of the year? Imagine what a youkai or hanyou's life would be like with out it."

They sat there in awkward silence for a few moments; Tetsuya eyed Inuyasha and Inuyasha eyed the contents of his cup. It may have _seemed_ like such a childish drink but he absolutely adored it and the way Tetsuya's mate prepared it was just splendid. Hot chocolate, a powdered blend of fine cocoa beans and just enough skim milk to make the temperature just right. The trouble was that this _seemingly_ childish drink calmed the insane and sporadic tweaking of his nerves; calmed the swell of sea storms in his head. He shifted the liquid around, noting how the color remained the same, keeping the pace so that the distortion became constant.

"So, my well-spirited and good natured chap," Tetsuya began tipping his head back to look at the ceiling "What exactly did you want to talk about?"

Those amber eyes remained glued to the chocolate orb he had created inside the mug, searching and stalking some unknown object. Inuyasha knew what he _wanted_ to ask but how could he? There was no embarrassment-free way of bringing up the subject; not one that he could think of anyway. Avoidance would be the best solution right now. _'If I know anything about Tetsuya,' _Inuyasha thought, still starring _seemingly_ aimlessly into the mug, _'He's just gonna dwell on the first thing I tell him.' _Inuyasha brought his arms behind his head, relaxing his position in the chair. _'I'll have to get him thinking about something else first so he doesn't turn this thing into a big deal.' _His conscience flashed images in his face; some true, some untrue while some were fantasy and come happened not so long ago. _'Not that this __isn't__a big deal but…'_

"Just came for a debriefing." Inuyasha said nonchalantly, keeping his cool and making sure he seemed as though nothing was really eating at him. If organs had vocal chords, his heart would have been singing like a jail-bird on death row; that beating contraption was simply itching to spill everything Inuyasha wanted to say. "So, how did the autopsy go?"

"Drug-related though the actual homicide most likely didn't have much to do with this mystery drug." Sitting back against his own recliner, Kuzuki avoided the gaze of the Inu-hanyou who immediately proceeded to let out a rather loud "what". Clasping his hands together, letting his fingers meld together, Kuzuki began recalling the details from the cobweb infested portions of his brain, taking great pains to keep away the mental images. "According to the report, her death was caused by severe blood loss as well as, and this is the funny part, loss of vital organs." Kuzuki let the information seep into Inuyasha's skin before continuing. "From what they could gather, the examiners believe she was stimulated before certain _things _happened, ending in a season induced youkai feast. At least, that's what the bite marks on the rib bones suggest."

Inuyasha blinked a few times, organizing and reorganizing each sentence in his head; compiling every word in his head until he finally had a response deserving of the recollection.

"You're telling me that…"

"Our victim was high before she and a few other demons decided to 'have some fun' as the rascals call it? Anyway, the natural high of sex and power was too great for the demons and they kind of chewed off her skin and ate her heart." Tetsuya relaxed in his chair a bit. "Nothing largely outrageous."

Inuyasha sat back down, his eyes directed at the floor. His mind was a buzz with processes working at breakneck speed. He knew the odds were that every other person involved with drugs was involved in group intercourse but to think that someone could take advantage of another who was so severely stimulated. "So, she was raped?" With this Kuzuki put a hand to his head, smacking himself and letting his hand vibrate; his eyes were closed as he pondered something rather important. "I'd love to say that's the case but the truth of the matter is thus: there was no sign of forced entry what-so-ever."

The conversation came to a dead-halt as of there. Inuyasha took the time to review everything to himself, realizing the true power and capability of this stimulant. He'd read Kuzuki's report; if the drug truly did cause the brain to malfunction beginning with motor skills, did that mean that conscience was absent too? Were the victim's brains so warped that they silently and literally blindly agreed to every command someone made of them? It was a bizarre and intriguing dilemma he was dealt to solve; if it proved to be true, the very essence of power was within the hands of these men and its effects were devastating upon his citizens.

Inuyasha picked up his mug again, his mind afloat on a sea filled with longing and wonderment. Tracing back to his time of uniforms and persecution, the few years ago when he was in school, he could dully remember the built up stress from numerous assignments and projects, subtracting women and his own personnel life from the equation. How was it that now, of all the times in his life, he was more stressed out than any previous time with only two very distinct things bothering him? Mentioning the stress received from his job would be redundant; mentioning his stress over a very _'sexy'_, _'polite'_ and _'wondrous'_ human was enjoyable to the Inu-hanyou (What a large vocabulary for a small-minded dog). For a time in his life, his heart had been punctured; only able to heal once enough exposure to the cruel reality of the world had toughened and empowered his heart to the point where certain emotions seemed trivial. Alas however, just like his own brother, it seemed the emotion his heart had once forsaken was on the verge of over taking him. He was completely blinded to his own emotions; he could feel the beating of his heart just from a simple smile; the sweet melody of her voice was enough caress his soul. Hell, Inuyasha could even hear the choir making sure the fat lady was still tied up when she thanked him last night. It was easy to admit mentally, maybe not so much vocally, that he had feelings toward Kagome.

Although it was wrong, he _did_ pray that everything was only the cause of this cursed season. A few years is hardly enough time to completely forget about the crushing blow he had been dealt back in high school; if he was truly smitten then he was basically painting a target on his chest for more discomfort. Think of all the trouble he could save if this was just his demonic nature telling him that he needs some sort of exposure.

"Now that we're past your little front mutt," Tetsuya began, turning his head toward Inuyasha. He wasn't fooled for a second; he knew Inuyasha had _something_ he wanted to talk about, whether he admitted to it or not. "What is it you _really_ came here for?"

"Oh spare me!" Inuyasha bit out. "You act like I've got something to hide or somethin' like that!" Inuyasha knew exactly what he was doing. He wasn't trying to on purpose but he couldn't help it; his words were becoming muddled and repetitive and he was getting _defensive_. _'Shit. Shit. Shit. Now he's really gonna be on my case.' _In a last ditch effort, Inuyasha brought up yet another topic; one that would have damaging repercussions upon his awareness and awakened state (it's going to bore him). "The only other thing I came here for was to hear what you know about this Dimitri guy or whatever."

Tetsuya's eyes lit up, his face beaming, causing Inuyasha to hate his sporadic mouth with the "burning hot intensity of a thousand suns." Tetsuya's face was aimed at an angle, fifty degrees to be exact, and those sea-colored eyes looking past the junction of ceiling and wall, out onto the past horizon; the smell and energy of his past seeming to immerse itself in the room.

"Dimitri Afon'ka was and apparently still is one of the largest drug distributors in all of Russia." Tetsuya informed, his eyes still glistening from a light that seemed to appear from nowhere. "Japan's first glimpse at his schemes was during the Iwaki-Tokyo incident only a year or so back. My partner and I were assigned to take him down but a few…" The godly light in Tetsuya's eyes vanished for a bit as he quickly turned his head from side to side, listening to make sure the water was still running. "A few upsets that jeopardized the mission and cost us the arrest. Dimitri was shipping in the largest amount of Opium in history and selling it on the streets of Iwaki. After awhile, the addiction spread to Tokyo and The Department was called in to relinquish the disaster..."

Inuyasha sat in the chair, his head rocking to each side of his body as he remained in a gentle dozing state. Tetsuya had told him this same exact story a total of fifteen times now and, to say the least, it was getting quite boring. Inuyasha knew how the story ended so why bother staying awake? '_'Damn him.' _Inuyasha thought with the part of him that was still awake. _'Every time I bring up anything having to do with __that__ topic, re rambles on about __this__ again. Whatever, I'll just have to "patient" and wait for him to finish and tell me what I want-or what he thinks I want-to know.'_

As Tetsuya finished his tale, Inuyasha looked back into his mug, his mind once again linking the two colors to something he knew and could hardly wait for. He was ready to see Kagome; he wanted to see Kagome. They had already planned another date for tonight but was it really such a good idea? Kagome and Inuyasha may have _known_ each other but did it really warrant what they had done last night? Considering Kagome hadn't complained or disagreed, during or after the act, he was inclined to think it was okay. He never had a deep-rooted connection to anyone other than Kikyou before and he was afraid he may be taking things a tad quickly. Still, even if it wasn't too quickly for either of them, what if he screwed this up? Kagome was a great person to be around, she was intelligent and she gave this indescribable feeling; was this love or was it lust, should he pursue or should he falter, should he keep the pace or back down? That was the reason Inuyasha had come to Tetsuya's apartment. As much as he _hated_ asking for it, especially from Tetsuya; Inuyasha needed _help_.

Taking a silent breath in through his nostrils, he readied himself for the task ahead. The muscles in his arm tensed as they gripped the side of the chair; his arms pulling his body to face the phoenix-hanyou. His mouth, partially dry, parted his lips in an attempt to speak. Then he saw the one thing that could make this situation unbearably difficult; the one person in this world who he knew would scrutinize him and burrow herself deep within the labyrinth of his own affairs. Inuyasha saw _her._

Positioned lazily in Tetsuya's lap, quickly massaging her scalp with an indigo towel, Hanako flashed Inuyasha a smile, glimmering with the likeness of the Cheshire Cat (Kuzuki and Hanako had forced him to watch that ridiculous movie, constantly blabbing about how wonderful it was). Inuyasha was seriously fucked up; he didn't even hear the water shut off a few minutes ago. It was unbelievable how much of a pain Hanako could be to Inuyasha both on _and_ off the job; during the day she would constantly demean him for being late or rude and in reality, she was always infringing on his affairs and making his personnel life a living hell. To Inuyasha, Hanako was always the kind of sister figure that he never wanted.

"Inuyasha," Hanako mused, "You looked like you had something to say." Her smile, her damn and despicable smile, grew larger as she finished; she knew there was _something_ on Inuyasha's mind and she wouldn't stop until she found out what it was. "Why would you stop? Can't you tell _me_ what it is?"

Inuyasha turned his head away, remembering his lesson from the several other times she had begun like this. "Feh. It's nothing." He only turned his head back around once he heard small sighs from across the room; the two were nuzzling in each other, tempting Inuyasha with the picture of happiness; anger and envy consuming his heart as blood traveled faster, spilling into his brain and causing him to ignore his inner-voice. Every fiber of thought (which obviously wasn't much) screamed for him to shut up, to not say _anything_ that will give him away. Inuyasha snapped at that, his heart consumed by jealousy; why shouldn't he have such relations with Kagome?

"How would you expect me to tell anyway, with you two all over each other!" Inuyasha shouted, his moving from a glazed, flaming-amber of anger, to a dull expression of realization. Inuyasha knew Hanako's inner mind and vice versa; if he said _one_ thing, she would know the problem. Inuyasha didn't miss the glimmer in her eyes as she approached him. _'Damn it all.' _Inuyasha thought, an involuntary "gulp" emitting from his throat.

* * *

Pathos.

If there was one thing Kagome had retained from her single semester on Language and Composition, it was the definition of that accursed word. The word was a type of rhetorical appeal in which an author attempted to use passion and persuasion in order to convey his or her own ideas; when in her own world would she ever need to know or _recognize_ that piece of rhetoric?

Kagome rested her soft bottom on the hard wood of the chairs in her apartment; soft and uplifting music battled its way out of the speakers, riding through the air like stunt-planes. The music traveled around the room, coming to rest between the two women positioned in the room. The angelic chorales and notes fluttered in 'zigzags' toward Kagome's face before bounding off, hiding behind the well-mannered Sango. Kagome's hands formed themselves into a miniature skyscraper, pointed directly up but at an angle (don't think too hard), that rested itself in-front of Kagome's chin and lips. Her eyes glimmered with dramatic tears that waivered below her eye as she looked toward her friend for confirmation; confirmation that Kagome had heard wrong and that she had just been far too wrapped up in her own personnel affairs.

"Please tell me you're kidding." It came in a pleading way, the voice from her lips. Sango's words _couldn't _be true; to speak the truth would have infringed on Kagome's happiness, would have shaved time off what could be _more_ happiness, and would have angered Kagome since she would be losing…_happiness._

"No, I'm telling the truth Kagome." Sango responded, unashamed, "Kagura said she wanted you there early tonight." Sango blinked a couple times, still taken aback by Kagome's pleading. "Why, did you have something going on today?"

"No, I guess not." Kagome answered, pinning a sigh that threatened to escape to the back of her throat. _'Nothing at all Sango. Just a date with my old crush, Inuyasha, but that's nothing right?' _Her mind's sarcasm amused her while Sango gave her a questioning glance, but then dismissed it with a wave of her hand. Raising her other hand, Sango levitated the plastic control to the stereo in the corner; a few clicks of rubber and electronics later, the genre of music soaring through the room took a dramatic twist. From calming instrumental, voices trailed out, outlining songs that were to be heard by _any_ listener ranging from pop to rock; all of which would be played on the station.

It was a gift apparently. Sango dragged it over, insisting that Kagome stop wallowing in the melancholy of silence and bask in the benevolence of noise. According to Sango, Kagome's apartment was just "too gloomy for you [Kagome to live here without any sort of accompaniment" and Kagome would have to agree. Her near empty apartment simply reminded Kagome of her emotional loss, tugging at the bitter and sorrowful memories of her family's death. The apartment was, in itself, a reflection of her own being; the wood that lined the floors and some objects, displaying her tough and cold outer appearance; the few meaningless objects, demonstrating her level of will power; of course there was the lack of non-necessity items that, by now, had _become_ necessities which depicted her emptiness of the heart. After a few moments of debate, Kagome gratefully accepted the noise-maker while mentally tallying all of the things that we're starting to beckon her towards a better life.

Sango swayed her head for a few moments, lost in the catchy rhythms and notes exploding out from the stereo. A lock of her hair swatted at her arm and she flicked it away; her eyes landed square on her wristwatch and opened slightly in shock. "Oh no, I've got to go!" Sango shouted out, struggling out of the chair while simultaneously trying to push the chair back under the table. She quickly placed the control down on Kagome's table before grabbing the light overcoat she had placed behind her and bounding out of Kagome's apartment.

"See you later Kagome!" Sango shouted as her frame quickly exited from Kagome's view. "We'll talk later tonight!"

With that, Kagome simply sat there; chocolate eyes simply starring at the lemonade in her cup. She had prepared it for Sango and herself but Sango had refused, citing that the taste of lemons were too bitter. Kagome simply starred into the liquid, attempted to look past it in some way or form. It was as though she were trying to look below the surface, searching for what secrets the golden liquid contained, without disrupting the static flow of energy in her porcelain cup.

Maneuvering herself upwards and outwards, Kagome strolled over to the stereo, rotating through radio-stations until one caught her attention; moderate jazz and funk improvisation. Such a lively and expressive pattern was bellowed; sharp tweaks of sound coupled with mind-bending runs and chromatics, sprinkled with octave jumping and accidentals that seemed to relay so much happiness. How could she help herself? Immersed in the fog of that music, and with no previous meditations, how could she not help but express herself in a fashion she was becoming quit used to?

Kagome's feet moved across the floor, trailing the cold and inanimate wood that had long been forced to sever all ties with its own family, whether by intention or by force; her hands swayed through the suffocating air in her apartment, reaching for something unseen and unheard; her body swayed from side to side, her hips following suit, as forces cascaded around her body, engulfing her as she tried vigorously to shove away the imaginary assailant. The tempo increased, her body following along with rhythmic motions and articulate gestures, the perfect physical capture of lightheartedness and pain-free emotion. The only flaw was those eyes, chocolate and moist, that gave away her inner sufferings and personnel demons. Eyes seemed to be the only thing that the world of humans and youkai were unable to restrain from honesty; truth was always embedded in a being's eyesight and how they looked. Kagome's dancing and care-free _seeming_ spirit only created a façade to what she was reliving over in her head.

Those eyes remained glued to the golden thirst-quencher, inner torment building behind them. Accidentals could be heard from the stereo, a cruel mimic of her own unhappiness; the accident that tore her away from her family, causing forgotten tears to threaten the air despite her resolve, nearly erupting behind her eyes; The accidental meeting with Inuyasha that seemed to spark something wonderful and sinister inside of her, the meeting strengthening a feeling in the pit of her stomach she was desperately trying to ignore; the feeling she had always been advised to ignore.

Once again, the tempo increased and her mind followed. Her mind, racing from thought to thought, settled on something she had neglected to consider; was she moving too fast? In regards to her own body, she could probably handle another fifty beats per minute but in regards to Inuyasha, she wasn't sure. Her life had been a maelstrom of events, all being arranged randomly. Was there truly much to worry about; they hadn't done anything obscene. Still, could such a pace continue? It wasn't as though she didn't want it to continue but there were so many factors to consider. What of Inuyasha's honesty; should it not be tested to some extent? Worse yet, what of Kagome being a 'dancer'?

Finally steadying down a bit as the songs switched, Kagome let out a small sigh as she sat down on the now warm ground. Her dancing really needed work.

* * *

'_This'll be fine…you'll do fine…She's never steered you wrong before.' _Inuyasha lowered himself slightly, allowing Kagome to daintily step upon the cement before she gave him a courteous smile and a quiet 'Thank You'. Inuyasha trailed his head to the side to look at her, his blood pressure increasing slightly as he starred at her gentle smile. _'Screw it. This won't be fine; Hanako probably rigged this whole damn thing. Damn feline.' _

"Whatever." He uttered as he mentally slapped himself around, cursing his own short-comings in terms of manners and vocabulary. His head snapped back around, afraid to catch any change in Kagome's countenance that might confirm his own rudeness. Waiting for half of a moment, noting the lack of disapproving noises from Kagome, Inuyasha carefully turned his head around to her while his arms folded across his chest. "Come on, we don't want to be late." As he started to walk towards the revolving glass doors, a hand gently slipped around his own, decelerating his pace slightly so that both he and Kagome's figures strode perfectly adjacent to one another.

"Well we wouldn't be late if _someone_ hadn't been late to come and see me." Kagome stated with a fake frustration as her eyes looked at him playfully; her eyes silently telling him, in her own way, that she was only kidding. She inwardly smiled as he gave an impolite 'feh' and glanced back at her with an unconcealed, yet rather small, smile. _'So maybe he has some character flaws- mainly being his attitude- but at least he's fun to be around.' _Kagome thought, quickly adding, _'So far…'_

Kagome could only giggle as Inuyasha _attempted_ to be chivalrous and failed miserably. So perhaps he was carrying the fair damsel and may hap he was treating her to yet another date but, there were some things that a man needn't do for a woman; such as opening a revolving door for instance. Inuyasha would put out a clawed hand and push, ever-so-gently, on the glass. Much to his frustration, the door just kept coming back around but, when he tried holding it the door was merely kept in a position that no person (other than a snake youkai or young kitsune) could get through. Trying one more time, he pulled the door to him, spinning it around and around (much to Kagome's as well as a couple passerbies' amusement) before throwing his hands down at his sides, silently fuming. _'What the hell am I supposed to do now?' _Inuyasha's mind struggled against the impossible situation, _'She said to be a gentle-men and open doors for her, so how the hell am I supposed to do this without looking like an idiot?'_ Inuyasha's arms folded back in front of his chest as his face gave off a calmer look. _'It's not like I don't __understand__ how to get through but…how to do it for Kagome…' _

_Hanako was standing before him, her hair still wet from her shower; she was placed, ironically, with the green wall to her back. Her smile was still showing brightly as she went on and on about courteous jesters and polite manners with the Inu-hanyou, never failing to swat him over the head if he gave her a dirty or embarrassed look. "Pay attention Inuyasha!" She would shout out at him, far too close to his hears in his opinion. _

"_Alright Inuyasha!" She cried proudly, straining both the Inu-hanyou and Fushichou-hanyou's ears, "You better remember this one." Her index finger and thumb separated their near maximum distance, forming a backwards 'L' which she placed in from of Inuyasha's face. "__Always__ and I mean, __always __open __any__ door for your date." She expressed a jubilant smile as Inuyasha gave her a single blink. Hanako had come to understand Inuyashanese and was well aware that a single blink meant he understood but he was just trying to be difficult. _

Inuyasha's hand shot up to his face, smothering the left side as he shook his head; mostly at his own foolishness. How could he have been so foolish as to stop _trying_? He was trying to make (yet another) impression damn it; nothing could possibly infringe on that goal. He gave a solitary nod, readying himself to try yet again, the opening of the revolving door. To his surprise however, as he looked through the glass, he caught Kagome standing there, giggles turning into laughs as she glanced at him.

* * *

"So, what are we going to see Inuyasha?" Kagome asked nicely, one of Inuyasha's favorites of her many qualities. She was pleasant to be around; not a complete idiot or uncaring being as was much of the rest of the world. Standing in the lobby of the theater, Inuyasha carefully eyed each and every choice that scrolled down the display. Inwardly his mind groaned and his body wanted to convulse and throw itself into the nearest fall; it wanted some way in which to preserve its macho ego or its 'dignity'. With a quiet sigh he resigned himself, raising his arm to point at one of the selections.

"How 'bout that one?" Inuyasha asked with less than noticeable enthusiasm.

Kagome could only stare in shock at the hanyou next to her; could he actually be serious? Did he have any idea what he was picking? _'This is a joke right? This has to be a joke; no guy would want to watch something like that.' _Kagome thought to herself, unaware of the moving world around her. Nodding her head a couple times to clear her thoughts, Kagome noticed Inuyasha already coming back, white tickets in hand. Kagome could stare and all he did was cock his head, giving her a single blink, and mush her along over to their viewing area.

"Inuyasha," Kagome began as she strode up to him, "You know you just bought tickets to a romantic comedy right?"

"Yeah, so?" Inuyasha retorted not so much seeming angry but surprised. "Is that a _problem_?

Kagome wasn't quite sure how to respond; not even Hojo had been so intelligent as to make the first move they saw together something that was decently romantic. As a matter of fact, if she remembered correctly, she and Hojo had gone to see some sort of children's movie. _'Still, the movie hadn't been that bad.' _Kagome thought. To think, the cruel jerk she had known in high school was taking her to see a sappy movie all at his own expense; something her former boyfriend failed to do. So maybe it wasn't the best thing to compare Hojo to Inuyasha, mostly because Hojo would fail but, it wasn't right and she would have to vow to stop doing it. _'Of course, that could wait until __after__ Inuyasha has proved himself to be lower the Hojo.' _Kagome took one glance at his ears and smiled. _'That's highly unlikely though.'_

Unable to contain herself, Kagome entwined her arm around Inuyasha's, resting her head on his shoulder. To those few people of the times, unscarred by the flames of prejudice, they formed a brilliant example of compassion and content; their figure melding into each other. Even Inuyasha had a slight cocky smile forming on his face. His hands were free of sealants, allowing his one arm to remain held by Kagome while the other remained confidently in one of his pockets. She allowedhim to lead her across the floor, their steps synchronizing, towards a human employee who should have long been outdated by technology.

The boy, most likely still in high-school or he was an undergraduate, gave Kagome a polite smile and a courteous bow. He reached his hand out to her, expecting for her to have the tickets, only to be directed toward the Inu-hanyou.

Throughout her lifetime, Kagome had been through numerous events which had tested her patience and, sadly, this one was no exception.

For a moment, the young man simply starred at Inuyasha, even as the Inu-hanyou extended his hand. The ignorant little fool just kept staring at Inuyasha and everyone within a three-meter radius could tell why. The young man's gave hardened, his teeth gritting together and his lips parting in disgust, as he set his sights on Inuyasha's ears; one of the very symbols of his demon heritage. He quickly snatched the tickets away from the Inu-hanyou, wriggling them in the air for a moment as if to get the filth off of it. The young man then proceeded to tear off the required portion, returning a third of the ticket directly to Kagome for fear of coming in contact with a hanyou, all without disrupting his cold stare.

Kagome simply stood there with the ticket stubs in her hand while Inuyasha put a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to guide her away. Her feet wouldn't budge however; her eyes remained fixated on this _boy_ ahead of her who had, in the midst of her and several other people (namely humans), committed a serious prejudice. Kagome had a visibly blank expression on her face, offset only by the few blinks she would give off after only a few moments. "Kagome, come on already." Inuyasha said, gently pushing her yet again. To his utter amazement, she cocked her head and smiled at him; a smile of pure sarcasm that told him so much about her, something he could really get used to about her. Even as her eyes turned blood red and her mouth contorted into a scowl, the smile she gave him depicted a quality about her that was a real turn-on. Besides being amazingly sweet,

Kagome had no Prejudice.

"What do you think you're doing!" Kagome screeched, much to the amazement of the young man, Inuyasha, the manager, a few couples passing by and the other employees. "How _dare_ you stand here and treat him like that! You know, you got some nerve; if I had been your mother I-" It was then that Kagome had noticed the few people that had gathered around. They all had uncomfortable, confused and disapproving looks on their face; the problem was that they were all directed towards her. Kagome would never lie about being a priestess and the degree of discrimination that had been considered between some of the members of her former society but, even when she _had_ been part of The Order, not once had she actually harbored such an evil way of thinking. Kagome couldn't even begin to fathom the idiocy of these people who looked at her as if she had somehow wronged this poor young man; it was as if the human _boy _had been treated worse than the hanyou.

"Hey, what's going on here? Why are you al-" Kagome stopped as Inuyasha was finally able to push Kagome away from the situation.

"You just couldn't let it go could ya'?" Inuyasha spoke softly into her ear, meaning it to be less harsh then it actually sounded. However, he had trailed away with some a better understanding of Kagome's personality and, he had to admit, he rather liked it. In glanced down at her as he kept both of them moving, admiring the way she had just acted along with some of her womanly qualities. In retrospect, that wasn't the smartest idea which he emphasized by tightly gripping Tetsusaiga with his left hand.

* * *

It was _dark._

There really are no other words to describe the actual state of the room. There was, of course, the light coming from the projection of the actual movie but, aside from Inuyasha and Kagome, there was nothing else.

The two sat next to each other, both watching the screen absentmindedly; both thinking more of the other at their side more than what was in front of them. The movie was about half-way through by the time anything worthwhile had actually happened. Of course, that would be a complete fabrication.

Despite the incident out in the lobby, Inuyasha had somehow managed to stay unusually calm. During the movie he had made sure she was situated, food and drink wise (in truth there weren't any as neither were really thinking about such trivial snacks) as well as situation wise. The movie however, was incredibly boring but Kagome and Inuyasha made due by making silent jokes and impersonations of the actors and situations. _'This is actually going really well.' _Kagome thought to herself. _'So maybe it wasn't perfect but…'_

Their laughter soon subsided and Kagome turned her attention back towards the screen. She had turned back her attention at the pivotal moment in the romance; the lead-actor would now say something woman that had just healed his emotional scars, thereby pushing them deeper into their entangled web of love, despite the pressure of their friends and colleagues. Kagome let out a dry chuckle; she did like these kinds of movies but even she knew nothing like that actually happened in real life. Her face flushed slightly as she felt a warm hand pass over her own, gently and tenderly grasping it. Kagome looked to her right to find Inuyasha looking at her with a glazed-over expression; any rudeness or informalities exchanged between them in the past two years struck from the record.

Kagome let out a soft gasp, her mouth remaining agape as she looked deeply into his amber eyes; eyes that mutually searched her own. She could feel her face get warmer as she followed his mane down and then back up, stopping at those cute ears of his. _'What is wrong with you Kagome?'_ Kagome asked herself, still looking dreamily at Inuyasha. _'Why do you always have to go back to those ears?' _She wanted to say his name, wanted to call out to him, if only to try and understand what was happening. She watched as he got closer, that expression still in his eyes. She knew what he was going to do; she was wanted to do the same thing. What if it wasn't the right time? What if this was wrong and they were moving too quickly? _'On the other hand, he __did__ time it perfectly and…he __is__ right here…'_

He gently placed his lips upon hers, not with force or lust but with affection and caring and possibly some other emotion. She snaked her arms around his neck and pulled him closer, still keeping their kiss as gentle and perfect as it had been a few moments prior. They pulled back slightly, both still lost in each other, before Kagome reinitiated a kiss just as sweet and locking onto his top lip, keeping them in that position for a good few minutes. After that moment, Kagome leaner head on Inuyasha's shoulder and there they stayed; completely oblivious to the movie that had continued on without them.

On some of the best experiences of her life, this one definitely ranked to be one of the highest on Kagome's list. It was an amazing feeling to her that could only have been better with one improvement; if Inuyasha's hands had touched her shoulders and not automatically flown to the damned katana.

Kagome folded her skin away, storing it in her unevenly painted locker, silently cursing have to work so early. Fastening her pseudo-skin to her naked body, Kagome methodically shut the door of her locker; her hands operating the world around her with the exact amount of energy needed, no more and no less. Kagome placed herself on a familiar wooden bench and twiddled her thumbs, waiting for Sango by counting moments as they flew by.

A smile spread across her face, just picturing all of the news she would be able to tell Sango. No matter how wrong or enviable it would be, Kagome wouldn't waste any time telling Sango _all _about it. After all, Sango had been the one to inform Kagome that she would have to come in early so why shouldn't Kagome have this one tidbit of fun? It had been so long since Kagome had something even close to a friend to talk, chat or even gossip with; despite the rough start, she was grateful to actually know Sango. Even before her life overhaul, Kagome's social life had taken a drastic careen downward.

For the semester she spent in college, she did almost nothing but focus on her work; she was fed-up with pleasing the world and she craved her own degree, something to help her make a "living in life". Of course, to achieve equilibrium, if one thing was raised and outdone then another must be overlooked; such was the fate of Kagome's social life. So she stayed secluded mostly; living alone gave her complete solitude and the isolation became a blessing as it would be needed in order for her to keep her abilities under focus. Heaven forbid she accidently deep-fried Inuyasha. After meeting Sango, things actually started to pick up for Kagome; Sango had actually vested some interest in the pitiful girl. On the flip side of the coin, the "initiation" that Sango and the other women had given her had actually a gift; to think that they were actually considering letting her be part of their family! Sango was being incredibly generous by spending time with her and, in dull honesty, was a wonderful gesture; Kagome needed a friend right now and she was glad to have someone close to it.

There was still that ping of uneasiness inside of her; that conscious signal alerting her moral fibers. Everything was happening so quickly and in rapid succession in her life. _'Is this really what it's like to be out in the "real world"?'_ Kagome questioned inside her head. Earlier that year, everything seemed so planned and within reach. As of the past few weeks, things became muddled and deluded; everything was incoherent and out of order as though the things that were occurring were moving at an inhuman pace.

"Kagome!" The voice snapped her back into reality, pulling her back into her location and agenda. Something grabbed her and half-dragged her out of the locker room. "Change of plans Kagome; you're dancing _now._" Kagura commanded, still dragging Kagome.

Kagome just gave Kagura an incredulous look but brushed it away with a sigh. _'So much for waiting up on Sango.'_

* * *

She wanted to cry. She _really _wanted to cry.

Beyond the sea of white, dotted with various colors and out the doors illuminated by the neon lights she could see him. In the recess of her mind where she had once been inattentive and distracted, Kagome could only picture him. Never before had that figure plagued her mind so or had made her so aware of every action she did. Or maybe he had always plagued her so but she hadn't realized it until now; now when she felt guilt ridden and dishonest.

It really was a beautiful dress and it looked divine on Kagome; a neo-remake of classic English fashion where the skirt was cut off at her things instead of fourteen feet past her heels, shorter sleeves that extended right past her shoulder instead of down to her wrists and a much tighter fit across her chest; all in a black finish and a white collar. In other and harsher words, she looked like a fashionable whore.

Wrapping herself around the unmoving steel snake, Kagome loosened most of dress by carefully working her body movements earning a great deal of clamoring. On any other day, she wouldn't have noticed but now she was forced to watch herself, as though she were in the crowd, as she "performed". Slipping down into nothing but her skivvies, which earned another set of verbal calamity and hormonal chaos, she moved her tongue up and down the pole a few times, desperately pleading with any supernatural being to let her spend less time for more humiliating actions.

'_Baka.'_

Releasing herself, she rubbed her backside against the pole, tantalizing the mass of youkai and humans with her eyes as the gleamed mischievously; hiding the screaming pain and embarrassment inside. Straightening herself upward and releasing an inaudible moan, Kagome directed her eyes towards a hopeless human man, unrealistically unhooking her bra as she backed harder into that degrading dancing tool.

'_Baka__.'_

Her breast wriggled freely as she let her clothing drop to the floor and bounced slightly as she crawled her way up to this immoral bastard of a human, treating him to the temptation of her image. Shaking slightly from side to side, she felt sorry for the fool who probably, in some deluded sense of grandeur, thought that he had singled her out for a reason; why else would she degrade herself in front of him? Pressing her breast against him, she felt her mind snap in two and issue her one last glass-breaking statement.

'_**Baka!**__'_

With that, Kagome simply walked off, conveniently ending with the cursed music. Leaving her clothes on the floor and ignoring the pats on the back for her routine, Kagome walked straight to the bathroom knowing full well what the implications to their compliments were. _'Great job Kagome! You acted even more than a whore than me!'_ While in the bathroom Kagome sat down in one of the stalls, tears already glistening in her eyes; only one question was on her mind:

Was she betraying him?

* * *

End Notes: Questions? Comments? Leave them in a review and don't forget to check my recommendation list! It will be changed _tomorrow_. I'm pretty pleased with this chapter; minus the mistakes I probably didn't find. Alright, I'm off to work on History. Drop me a line later on.


	15. Hidden Point

A/N: Hey guys. I'm sure by now you're significantly pissed about my lack of updating. Here's the deal: this story was was meant to prepare me for an IB paper I have to due at the end of the year. Guess what the past month has been? You guessed it: Preparation for the IB English Literature, World Literature paper. I've been spending all of writing time on planning for my paper and doing some organizing. I was able to get away tonight so I can update. Have no fear, this _does_ mean I'm back and you can expect the next update in about a week. Yes, I promise. Anyway, this will be the final sub-plot chapter. The story is nearly over (I have a couple ideas I'll get to work on after this) and the rest of the chapters will adhere strictly to the main plot with no little side snipits. Anyway, here my answers to my reviews: **_Voice of the Mist-_ I don't know either! _LoVe23-_ We all speak Inuyashanese...we just don't realize it sometimes_. midnight87-_ Yes, writing the dancing sucks...exactly why I barely do anymore._ cutebaby-_ That's funny, me too! Guess my fingers work faster than my brain_. Tim37-_ Thanks dude. Glad to hear you're semi-interested.** Well, those were my only reviews. thanks to the people who constantly review and read and I sincerely apologize for such a late update. Anyway, if you're still interested, Enjoy!

Disclaimer: The writer and creator of this work of fiction within a fiction, does not own any original characters, names or ideas from the hit Anime/Manga, InuYasha. As a precaution, I'll remind everyone of the original characters of which are mine, patent pending, that no one may steal illegally. It is perfectly fine to steal them legally. Take that YomiYuri Telecasting Corp.! Note: Patent not actually pending.

* * *

Chapter 14- Hidden Point

Scandalous Investigations

* * *

The springs inside his mattress groaned as he unconsciously shifted his weight, the blankets rolling into awkward shapes before falling off of the bed. By morning there would be a few heavy blankets strewn around the bedroom floor, mingling with a sheet or two and maybe even his clothes if his temperature shifted so much. In another corner of the room would be a small sleeping-bag for him to lay on that he would drag out in the middle of the night if he felt as though he were sinking into the bed. The Inu-hanyou released a subconscious sigh as his body relaxed for a moment in his new position, only to move his body inward a few minutes later as though the heat were being drained from his body. Then, seconds later, Inuyasha lay sprawled out on his comforter with his tongue hanging out of his mouth as he panted against the still air in his apartment.

It was a never ending cycle and a depressing scene to watch at that. Inuyasha would always continue this cycle of tense and insomniac-like sleeping habits. Ever since his childhood he had such a problem with staying asleep; tossing and turning, groaning and moaning, there always seemed to be something wrong and Inuyasha would always wake himself up to readjust himself before settling back down to another few minutes of rest.

However, tonight there was a difference in Inuyasha's behavior. True enough, all of his traditions were performed in the predicted random order but, everything was carried out subconsciously. It was as though Inuyasha's mind were allowing his soul the pleasure, for the first time in what must have been years, to relax within the comforts of sleep. Even as he shifted in his bed, with what seemed to be a constantly fluctuating temperature from how he attempted to conserve and release body heat, his eyes remained closed, shutting Inuyasha off from the rest of the world.

Sadly, Inuyasha's separation from the world turned out to be a double-edged sword. While it may be true that he had differences with society, the realm of his mind had often plagued and humiliated him numerous times. Hidden behind the mangled locks of his hair, his eyelids twitched nervously while he grimaced ever-so-slightly; the occasional bead of sweat running down the side of his face. His bottom leg jumped up and down on the bed as his claws dug into his mattress. The question always arises as to whether or not dogs dream. If one were to look at Inuyasha, the answer would undoubtedly be yes.

So exactly what was Inuyasha dreaming about? Was he dreaming of an object, a person? Was Inuyasha dreaming of numerous partners, each one drowning him in a sea of hormones and drug-induced escapades? Perhaps Inuyasha was dreaming about the rise of the morning sun as he watched from a place in the Hida Mountains. The sun would crescent over the island, reflecting off the dew from the grass; a ghostly aura that could instantly cleanse any mind (Yes, even Miroku's) would erupt from the top layers of the Earth. Inuyasha would sit there with his lover as he remained cemented in place, unwavering against the winds that would seek to tear the two apart. There, in a humble home built for the two of them, he and his lover, possibly Kagome, would live the rest of their days in solitude and happiness. Then again, Inuyasha could have been dreaming about a large ham he once had that his brother decided to throw out the window (it was only to prove a point mind you). With Inuyasha, it's quite impossible to tell what he may be dreaming.

For all the world knows, Inuyasha could have been dreaming about fluffy pink bunnies that he wanted to nurture and feed…although, such a thing is _highly_ unlikely.

Whatever the hell Inuyasha was dreaming though, disappeared as soon as a loud and very disturbing noise penetrated his ear drum. To him, it was almost as if a wired Tetsuya had been unleashed in his room with the sole intent of harassing him about various things until Inuyasha's patience snapped, which would cause him to do all sorts of harmful actions upon Tetsuya's body (none of which included sexual activities). Such a high-pitched whine it was, _seemingly_ emitting from every crevice of the room, throwing Inuyasha's attitude towards anger and frustration; truly parallel with Tetsuya's "humorous" comments and statements directed towards Inuyasha. It was no wonder that it made Inuyasha want to kill Tetsuya.

Inuyasha was feeling particularly energetic that morning as leapt off of his bed, landing his four limbs on the ground with a grace unacknowledged by most humans. Standing upright, he hopped over to the source of his discomfort-the plastic and somewhat metal cell phone he had bought for his job- and flicked it open, half hoping that he would miscalculate his force and break the thing in half.

"What." Inuyasha commanded into his phone, still waiting to find out who had called him at…Inuyasha finally had a chance to look at his watch and notice that he had overslept by about four hours than the time he normally forced-or was forced to-himself to get up…eleven-twenty in the before-noon.

"Good morning Inuyasha." It was _that_ voice. _That_ voice which he had come to respect and admire to a degree but also gave him a feeling of disgust and frustration. Inuyasha could hear the mild humor circulating through Miroku's words and grew a smidge bit angrier at the street cop, not understanding why Miroku found it necessary to call him period.

"Miroku, what are you doing calling me right now?" There was a pause on the other end, which Inuyasha filled with, "I could still be sleeping-it should figure you would be the one to wake me up." When there was still a pause on the other end, Inuyasha ended his rant with "Why the hell did you call me anyway?" (By Inuyasha filling the pauses, he didn't actually allow Miroku time to speak).

By this time, Inuyasha had already maneuvered through parts of his apartment, landing him in the kitchen that overlooked his welcome room (living room or television room). The room was in no neater condition then it had been when he left for the theater last night; pillows were tossed off the side of the loveseat with the decorative blanket thrown off the back and laid upon the cushions while pieces of his dirty street clothes decorated the floor like the padding to his color. Surprisingly, the clothes were mostly a shade of red in color, creating a bloody stain on the white cloud of his floor.

There was yet another pause on the other end of the line as Inuyasha rested his half-bare body against the cut-out in the room that led from the welcome room to his kitchen. Slightly peeved by the lack of sound, Inuyasha's hand immediately grasped the conveniently placed remote to his T.V. and activated it, searching through channels that caught his eye.

"You haven't heard the news yet have you?" Miroku's voice finally protruded through the headset just as Inuyasha's screen settled on a live-feed (with the occasional still-feed photos) of a section of downtown Tokyo. Inuyasha quickly raised the volume of his television, subconsciously lowering the phone while doing so.

"…for the past hour." A single voice echoed above the confused chaos pictured on the screen. Citizens of Tokyo-about two to two and a half hundred-were barreling down the street towards the camera as police cars arrived to replace them. "Police have been unable to subdue the culprit and are waiting for backing from religious organizations on both sides of the ideological spectrum in order to come to a verdict on the crises." On the screen, an aerial view of Tokyo was shown and Inuyasha's eyes grew a hair wider as he looked closer. There was some sort of demon wandering the streets of Tokyo-which wasn't hard to see considering it was about thirty meters high at that point-which represented some sort of centipede…or maybe it was a millipede…in either case, Inuyasha wasn't as interested in the giant insect (or whatever the hell they are) as he was in what the camera-operator had zoomed in on. There on the screen, was a group of cops waving their hands at the chopper and who should be in the collective? Miroku, with his cell-phone glued to his ear, was waving with a smile at the helicopter, fully expecting Inuyasha to be watching at this point. Inuyasha's eyes narrowed as he brought the phone back up to his ear.

"I take it you want me to come down and help, right?"

* * *

Bounding from rooftop to rooftop, his badge, which gave him license to do over the top things like running on rooftops, dangled from a necklace he had gotten a year or so ago. Inuyasha's mind was racing through the past as he tried to remember everything he had learned about various youkai from his colleagues, Tetsuya and the occasional snippet his brother had spared him. Surprisingly, a demon running down the streets and causing chaos wasn't a day-to-day affair anymore. For the most part, everything seemed to run in a neat and orderly fashion, like clockwork.

For the past fifty years, youkai have been constrained to the various islands that surrounded Shikoku and Kyushu which youkai had inhabited after a devastating assault on their way of life by a radical purifying-capable and his followers. Ever since their admission to the nation, a steadily growing number of youkai and hanyou have begun migrating to the mainland in search of tolerance (backwoods fools) and occupation.

Most demons on Honshu work lowering paying and humiliating jobs. Some, like the infamous "fluffy", have obtained a better career and the respect earned from numerous successes (although, having a half a millennia life span helps as well). Still however, those working the lower-end jobs in the slums of the urban cities faced social extortion every-day. Their value as second-class citizens made a divide between them and their potential human customers. The media benefited by exploiting the chasm, using marketing ploys that inspired fear or anger; the common newscast about a local crime and how youkai are involved. As sad as it is however, Tokyo ran smoothly and without any delay despite the interaction between humans and demons. Youkai and humans would walk down the street, paying each other no mind as they went about their tasks; youkai would perform their needed tasks as humans benefited or vice versa. Aside from the ignorant sections of the city, Tokyo's inhabitants worked fluidly around each other and together and most of the day went smoothly.

Except in the Spring.

One would think that, by now, the press would stop taking advantage of a youkai's hormonal imbalance and push negative propaganda through the roads. Every year, out of a possible fifty-hundred thousand cases, five-thousand "Spring-related" (referring to the imbalance of sex hormones in demons) incidents are recorded each year. Japan's chief medical general announced a list fifteen years ago of the average number of demons per type (dog, rat, mollusk, paining, etc.) that had a tendency to act on their imbalance. Still, even with only one-percent of that number acting, P.A.I.D. (People Against Integrated Demons) uses the number of cases that _are_ committed every year to argue with the Federal Courts on the dangers of youkai and hanyou. (Their last rant was over whether or not demons should be allowed to own bicycles. The court is still making their decision. They're _that_ influential.)

With a small "oomph", Inuyasha landed on a building adjacent to the street that was shown by helicopter-cam during the news broadcast. There were signs of the incident everywhere; impressions left on the road from the demon's weight, the smell of the demon and of the humans who had fled and the feint sound of twenty meters off. Inuyasha's arms crossed against his chest as he followed the snake-like path on the ground, rewarded with a visual of the centipede-youkai and the squadron that had "barricaded" him off. He couldn't help it; he let a smile play across his face as he lowered his left hand to grip the hilt of his Tetsusaiga. He enjoyed these occurrences; it always provided him with some sort of challenge and sense of accomplishment. Everyone, even Inuyasha, had a hero side that wanted to defeat Godzilla.

Within a few more leaps, Inuyasha made his way to the black Tokyo-Traffic van positioned a little ways from the spot where the youkai was wriggling and twitching at all of its onlookers. There was the standard amount of enforcement, fully equipped with semi-automatic handguns and a few police-issue shotguns. The city's Department personnel were always a joy to watch in this situation; they would take a few steps toward the youkai and, just as it began to twitch, take double the amount of steps backward. They were so ill-equipped to handle this that it was funny and Inuyasha could only scoff at them.

"Well, well. Glad to see you could show up." There stood Miroku, leaning against the side of one of the cruisers. As Inuyasha would have expected, he was holding that strange jingling staff that his grandfather had given him. Miroku had always given some excuse that it helped him focus his spiritual abilities, which was highly appropriate in this situation, but Tetsuya said that Miroku just liked the jingle.

"Wouldn't miss it." Inuyasha stated, giving a slight nod toward the youkai. "So what's the situation?"

Miroku ruffled his hair with his palm as he shook his head from side to side. His staff jingled as he shifted his position from the cruiser and pointed at the youkai. "He's calmed down a bit-my barrier helped to take care of that-" Miroku gave an smug look in Inuyasha direction, for which he only received a "feh", "But no one's willing to get close enough to take him down. We just need you to knock some sense into him so we can administer a tranquilizer." Miroku reached into his pocket and pulled out a syringe and held it up, just to give Inuyasha and idea of what they were sticking him with (also to prove that they were just giving him the depressant and not something more harmful).

Inuyasha nodded his head and began walking toward the youkai. _'And here I thought this might be something more fun.' _Once he was closer, he looked up at the twitching and helpless youkai. It had been cornered yet it seemed so angry and sad.

"Hey!" Inuyasha called up to it, "What the hell do you think you're doing?" Unsurprisingly, the demon turned his head toward the Inu-hanyou, signaling that Inuyasha had its full attention. "Huh, at least you're listening," Inuyasha mumbled, "Stop acting like an idiot and go the hell back home before we have to…"

Whilst Inuyasha was talking, the centipede-like-thing managed to twist his tail into the asphalt, kicking a fairly large chunk of the rock against Inuyasha's head which, needless to say, pissed him off.

"Why you-" Inuyasha muttered, half-drawing the Tetsusaiga before getting clunked in the head again, this time from behind. He turned to find Miroku constantly tossing a rock up into the air, eyeing him with a cocked eyebrow. Inuyasha understood his meaning in a half-instant: _Don't go doing something that'll get you a lawsuit._

Pushing the blade back into the sheath (which had oddly begun to glow), Inuyasha quickly leapt into the air and connected his fist with the demon's skull, propelling him into the ground. Landing carefully, his arms folding across his chest and taking into account that the tranquilizer was no longer necessary, Inuyasha made his way back over to Miroku. "Now was that so hard?" Miroku asked as a few officers rushed passed him to the unmoving demon.

Inuyasha didn't respond as his attention was pulled off to an intersecting road. A dark-blue car had screeched to a stop on the curb and, if memory served him correctly, Inuyasha knew it to be Tetsuya's car. As if to affirm his suspicion, the passenger side window rolled down to reveal Tetsuya's smiling face as he shouted,

"Inuyasha! Hurry up and get in the car, mutt!"

* * *

Inuyasha slurped some more noodles into his mouth as Tetsuya turned east down the intersection. The current were not his favorite noodles but they would quell his shouting stomach for another hour or so. He had magically been able to convince Tetsuya to stop by a ramen-house for a few minutes so that he could take part of three or six bowls of ramen. Inuyasha still wasn't entirely sure what the hell they were driving around for or what was supposed to happen when they arrived there. At first, Inuyasha thought Tetsuya was just curious or was just going to take him home but, once Tetsuya got that call, he seemed so tense.

"_Oi, Tetsuya, just where the hell we going anyway?" Inuyasha asked with one bent elbow on the passenger side window, a bored expression on his face._

"_It's not every day that Agent Tadashi gets to 'Save the City from Peril'." Tetsuya was quoting Inuyasha's favorite (and possibly the only one he's ever read) novel, __A City of Endless Peril__ in which the main character is constantly trying to…well…save a city from peril with his ragtag and ill-equipped fellowship. "I figured someone of your…demeanor would appreciate some small reward from a colleague." Tetsuya glanced over and found Inuyasha's suspicious gaze and let out a sigh._

"_I didn't think you'd by it. The truth is, I'm expecting a call in a minute and I need you to tag along. Nothing too serious." _

"_Feh. You could have just told me." Inuyasha sad, turning his attention to what lay ahead on the road. 'Fine, I'll help but in exchange…" Inuyasha could hear Tetsuya gulp from the driver side and knew he would be getting what he wanted. _

_Without a word, Tetsuya turned left and stopped at a drive-in restaurant where Inuyasha took it upon himself to order a few different kinds of Ramen (Kuno-chan's has made magnificent strides in the noodle industry). Wordlessly, they continued driving until Tetsuya received his long awaited call. _

"_Hello?" Tetsuya answered in a cheerful voice. _

_Inuyasha watched, ramen hanging out of his mouth, as Tetsuya's face grew from cheerful to serious in just a few moments of talking. It was slightly nerve-wrecking to see a man who was normally so cheerful, to be so tough-skinned and adamant after only a week or so of investigating. Tetsuya had been doing his job for nearly a decade and before that he had served a tour in the Japanese Army. There was no doubt in Inuyasha's mind that Tetsuya had seen things that were rather shocking. To think that something as minor as a drug-bust could send him into serious-mode was not a relieving thing. _

_However, that was not what was bothering Inuyasha. He listened intently to the one-way conversation on the phone, taking in the directions, the situation and all manner of statistics that Tetsuya was bombarded with. It was the voice that was truly shocking to him. A sweet melody that seemed to carry over a wonderful pitch through the electronic phone; a sound that circled through his mind and heart, stabbing him with a certain remembrance, pain and disbelief. It was something so nostalgic and sickly-sweet but he pushed it away, not willing himself to draw in the past. _

"_That was my informant in the United States Navy." Tetsuya said, shutting his phone with a click. "Apparently-don't ask me how America found this one out-there's an addict hide-out up ahead. The good news is that they believe that it's the experimental drug that they're using."_

_Inuyasha heard every word he said as he was no longer thinking about the voice which had been on the other end of the phone. Maybe he had finally woken up._

"I don't get it though." Inuyasha said, "If we're after Dimitri and we're camping out that nightclub, why are a few counts of possession a good thing for us?" Inuyasha had a point. They would be going after Dimitri on murder so why would a few counts of possession really matter to the case.

"Well, good chap, if we can take down this addict house, we'll no doubt find those illegal narcotics. If we find those, then we can bag Dimitri on possession and possession with intent so long as we find the same drugs at the nightclub." Tetsuya turned toward Inuyasha to make sure he was following along. Not to his surprise, Inuyasha still looked slightly confused. With a sigh, he began talking again. "We can't book Dimitri on murder just because they were his drugs. It would-"

"You can't be serious!" Inuyasha shouted out, "You're just going to let him off the hook for all of those people he killed?"

"Dimitri sold the drugs but _he_ didn't kill them, the drugs apparently did. Although Dimitri made the money, it's the consumers fault for taking the drugs or even buying them in the first case." Tetsuya narrowed his eyes slightly, remembering another case that had been in the news last year. "The courts already proved that a man can't be tried when his _illegal_ narcotics cause the death of someone." Turning again towards Inuyasha, Tetsuya noted that he seemed none-too-pleased about the court's decision. Tetsuya couldn't blame him; it had been a stupid decision to make but was expertly proven.

"In any case, if we nail him on a few different things, we can get a warrant to search any place he owns to gather evidence on some other things the Russian and American governments suspect him of. He's getting locked up either way."

Inuyasha wasn't appeased however. Tilting his cup to his mouth, he drew in the last of his ramen. With his mouth full and spice on his cheeks he uttered, "It's still a stupid decision."

* * *

"The team is up the staircase sir." Said a young man cloaked in Kevlar and armed with a Heckler and Koch MP5. "We're waiting for you and Agent Tadashi."

The three ascended the staircase with slight haste, anxious to wrap up this sting. Agent Tadashi's darted from wall to wall, appreciating the fine detail the original architect had taken. The staircase was set-up in a spiral fashion with peach walls circling around the structure. Where the wall met the stair that was a baby-blue line carved with a small rendition of the Evolution of Man. The small house was set in a rural area outside of Tokyo so Inuyasha assumed that it had probably once been home to a middle-class and intelligent family.

"No activity has been heard inside the attic but we have no evidence to suggest that they are unarmed."

"Excellent." Agent Kuzuki said as they arrived at the top of the stairwell, a small squadron placed tactically behind a door. Reaching into his coat pocket, he pulled out his handgun as well as a HK USP, which he flung to Inuyasha that was caught with ease. "Fall in behind Agent Tadashi. Breach in three."

The door was lung open and Agents Tadashi and Kuzuki led the way. As was to be expected, most of the people there were high out of sense and were subdued by the other members of the squadron. Tadashi and Kuzuki split up (the attic was actually fairly large for whatever reason) and check separate rooms. Agent Tadashi checked the east side, detaining a few suspects bagging a few of the drugs for analysis back at the headquarters. Only once had he been fired at and it was a trigger-happy friendly who just happened to be a new officer. His side secured, Tadashi went to check up on Kuzuki.

Kuzuki on the other hand had a few problems. There were two armed-suspects across from him, both with silenced weapons. When he actually realized they were there as he turned the corner, miscellaneous items in the attic and pieces of wood all came flying around Kuzuki's, like hundreds of pieces of slow shrapnel. Agent Kuzuki was not in the mood for any bullshit and almost settled for incinerating the whole damn area; that would have ignited the drugs as well so he honestly couldn't risk it. Instead, quickly spinning a silencing-tube on his gun from the inside of his hip-holster, Kuzuki darted from cover to cover, randomly taking blind-shots in their direction. Once he was close, he quickly knocked each one out cold with a few well placed blows to the head.

Agent Kuzuki had been able to survey the area when he had been running around so he was near certain that whatever drugs they had kept on that side had been destroyed. So, he turned his attention to a small door in front of him. He expected to find drugs but when he opened it, he found something completely different.

In front of him was a young-woman, bound and gagged. She had several bruises on her arms and a steady stream of blood trickling from her shoulder to her wrist. There was a circular pattern on her neck, indicating she might have endured a small amount of strangling but not enough to kill. The worst part was her eyes. The pupil was completely missing and they had half rolled into the back of her head. She was still alive but Kuzuki could hear her heart beating slower than normal beings (or maybe he had too much adrenaline). There was one suspicion to the culprit and it worried Kuzuki because if he was right, she might not survive a trek back to headquarters.

* * *

End Notes: Honestly, the ending was pretty damn rushed and I think I lost my technique but it's what you guys think that really counts. Hit the review button (or don't) and leave a comment or question!


	16. ComfortDiscomfort

A/N: For explanations as to why this story was on hiatus for two years, please visit my page. Thank you to all of the reviewers of the last chapter! Special thanks goes out to LoVe23 and midnight! Here's hoping I can actually bring myself to finish this!

Disclaimer: The author of this work of Fanfiction reminds all viewers that none of the ideas in this work, except those aforementioned, belong to him and are only generously loaned to him by VizMedia, YomiYuri and a truckload of other copyrighted stuff. If this work is offensive to anyone, the original creators of the loaned work have right to take it down without warning.

* * *

Chapter 15- Comfort/Discomfort

Scandalous Investigations

* * *

Kagome awoke, far too tired to lift her eyelids, to the sound of the buildings air conditioning starting up; just as the gears and mechanisms of the ancient cooling system began, so too did Kagome's mind and body as she struggled with the idea of actually getting up. What good could possibly come from embracing the new day? She was in that blissful moment of consciousness, the twilight that exists between the unconscious and reality where memories both good and bad are blocked from all forms of existence; for the moment Kagome was truly calm and completely unaware of whatever problems she had or would soon be facing. She was merely content.

Of course, that state only lasts for but a moment until the person gets to feel the swelling of thoughts and emotions coursing through their awakened being.

Kagome pulled the blankets she had wrapped herself in off of her body hesitantly, letting each bit of comfort last as long as she could make it. As she sat upright in the tiny bed a strong pain materialized in her head as if she had just been hit by a blunt and heavy object, before quickly traveling down into her stomach forcing her to begin dry-heaving over the side of the bed. The pain and potential pain of vomiting kept in her hunched over as she kept attempting to force out the pain, wrapping an arm around her stomach, before she grabbed the glass of water off of her nightstand and hastily gulped it down, momentary quelling the pain in her stomach. Kagome let out a small sigh of relief after taking a moment to catch her breath, and then looked at herself in the mirror; her dark hair unkempt, her face still dotted with glitter, her- _'Wait, glitter?'_

Kagome shot up to examine herself, her pain replaced by anxiety and confusion as she looked herself in the mirror up and down. She was still in her "work" uniform: glitter, skimpy clothing and all. Kagome then took a look around the room, making a very deliberate note of one thing in particular: this was _**not**_ her room. Her heart began racing, beating faster and faster, as all of the dissimilarities between her current quarters and her own became abundantly clear. First of all, Kagome would never have left work with her outfit still on. Never. Period. Second of all, that nightstand was not her nightstand; that bed was not her bed; and that mirror was…actually, it looked quite a bit like her mirror, but it wasn't.

Kagome turned back to the mirror, doing a mental checklist of the worst possible scenarios_. 'Oh no…was I-' _ Kagome looked at her attire, checking carefully for any cuts or tears in her clothing that she couldn't explain. After finding none, she let a large and relieved sigh. _'-Okay…I'm okay. Clearly no one hurt me…but, where am I?'_ A moment later, Kagome heard the door to the room open and she quickly turned her head towards the source, looking intently for the first figure to bust through the door frame. Kagome was geared and ready to fight…well, maybe not to fight. It had been a _long_ time since she actually had to fight, but if the occasion called for it, she was sure she could kick a little ass.

However, Kagome's demeanor softened when she saw who was coming in and heard the voice reaching out to her.

"Hey, you're awake!" Sango let out, rather surprised to see the young girl up and about, as she slipped into the room carrying a cup of warm tea. "How are you feeling?"

Kagome smiled at her friend, happy to see that Sango was showing such concern for her; it was as though the two of them had a real bond now. "Yes Sango, I'm feeling fine. I just have a small headache is all." Kagome gratefully accepted the beverage, slowly and delicately sipping Sango's offering.

"You passed out after leaving the stage last night," Sango explained, "so we brought you to one of the extra rooms." Truth be told, Sango was worried for Kagome. The little "performance" last night was a shock to the entire establishment (admittedly, the patrons were pleased); no one expected Kagome to go as far as she did. It worried Sango to see Kagome act that way; she didn't want Kagome to get roped further into this job. Sango watched as Kagome finished the last of the tea, worried once she saw Kagome put her hand to her head. "Are you in any pain Kagome, is there anything I can get you?"

Kagome threw her hands up, trying to motion off Sango's request. "Oh, no! You've already done so much for me. Thank you, Sango." Kagome walked over to Sango and gave her a small hug. Sango attempted to take the empty cup but Kagome shook her head and smiled. "No, please, let me. I've already kept you too long!"

Sango simply laughed it off and took the cup away from her anyway. "Don't be silly! You still need to change and get home anyway." Then she beamed at Kagome. "But if you want to make it up to me, how about we go out for breakfast?"

Kagome smiled at her, a jubilant and care-free smile. "Deal. Let me run and shower quickly, then I'll meet you outside soon, okay?" After receiving a hearty nod from Sango, Kagome hurried off to the locker room, her mind less focused on her route than the entirety of her night. It seemed like so long ago, years even, and she could barely remember any of it. Well, that wasn't true; she could remember the moments she wanted to remember. For instance, she could vividly remember how angry she felt over that idiotic ticket-stub collector at the movie theater. She could also remember exactly what she would have done to that _disgusting_ excuse for a human being if someone had not pushed her away. _'Honestly, how could someone have been so pathetic as to make a big scene in a public place?'_ Kagome thought, choosing not to remember her actual outburst to the boy at the moment.

Kagome could also very clearly remember the movie Inuyasha had taken her to see. It was about…something. That much Kagome was certain of. She was certain that, in the movie, something happened and some people were involved. Then something else happened and the movie ended…or maybe it didn't_. 'Alright, so I really have no clue what the movie was about…but there's nothing wrong with paying attention to something __other__ than the movie, right?'_

Kagome couldn't help but let a sly grin form on her lips after that last thought, as she stepped into the running water of the showers, lathering her body with the soap she had been smart enough to bring from home. She washed up and down, letting her mind pour over all of the events after the movie watching, (_'Or lack thereof,'_ Kagome recalled letting a small giggle out) from the time they were exiting the theater, to the moment Inuyasha had left her doorframe. He had been so incredibly sweet and kind the entire time. However he still maintained some of his trademark characteristics; such as, having a very low tolerance level for idiots. The idiot in this case would be the bigoted ticket collector who had shown him such distaste the couple hours prior. Just as Kagome and Inuyasha were preparing to leave, the poor boy pulled his car out in front of them, slamming on his brakes just a few feet in front of them. He thought it would be funny to pretend he was going to hit Inuyasha. So, Inuyasha thought it would be funny to slam his fist into the hood of the car, forcing the engine out from the bottom of the chassis.

'_Inuyasha was right too,'_ Kagome though, lathering her arms and mid-area, _'it was funny.' _Kagome continued washing herself up, weaving her hands through her hair and leisurely made her way to her neck, smilingly coyly as she relived Inuyasha's momentary loss of control.

_Inuyasha and Kagome walked up another flight of steps, hand in hand, still laughing about what Inuyasha had done. In any other case, Kagome would have had a spaz-attack over the incident but she could see where Inuyasha's rage was justified. Besides, he looked pretty cool when he flashed his badge to the guy, while daring the kid to call the cops._

_Languidly, they guided each other down the hallway, huddling as close together as they could and unconsciously matching each other's steps in perfect tandem. Kagome's head rested on Inuyasha's shoulder and his head was tilted gently onto hers. Eventually though, they arrived in front of Kagome's door, prompting the both of them to separate a bit to say their goodbyes._

_Interlocking their fingers on both hands, Kagome turned to look into his amber orbs and quickly lost any desire she had to go back into her apartment and leave Inuyasha out here. This, by the way, is quite an accomplishment considering she had zero desire to do that in the first place. Kagome effectively had negative desire to leave Inuyasha at that point in time. Imagine how hard it would be to get things done with negative desire._

"_Inuyasha…" Kagome started, taking a step towards him without relinquishing her gaze on him, "Tonight was…" she trailed off, letting her big smile partially form as both of them began getting closer and closer to each other. "…It was the best night I've had in a long time."_

_Inuyasha did not say a word as he pressed his lips gently against hers, wrapping their arms around Kagome's back as he moved her hips closer to his. They stayed that way for a few moments until, quite suddenly, Kagome had an impulse. She carefully maneuvered her hands away from his and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, pulling him a bit closer (which, obviously, Inuyasha did not mind at all), before delicately moving her hands through his silver hair, gently scratching at his head in the process (seriously ladies, try it sometime). Kagome had an impulse and she planned to follow through on it. She wanted to touch them; she needed to touch those __cute__ ears of his, if only for a second. So, without giving it a second thought she began scratching the fuzzy triangles on top of Inuyasha's head. Oh, she was glad she followed through on this impulse and, by the low growls; she could tell Inuyasha was too._

_However she did not expect it to have such a powerful effect over his behavior. After a few seconds of scratching Inuyasha grew a bit more aggressive, pushing Kagome's slender and incredible figure against her door, pressing himself even closer than before. Then, he tenderly moved his kiss from her mouth to her cheek and then slowly up and down her neck, gently suckling and nipping every area._

_Kagome giggled softly as she kept up the pressure on his ears, allowing Inuyasha a few more seconds to explore before gently calling his name and using one of her hands to bring his up so she could lock their lips together one last time, as she moved her arms around his waist. Inuyasha slowly pulled away, taking a moment to brush a strand of hair out of her face and gaze into her eyes._

"_So, I'll see you soon then?" Inuyasha asked, his golden eyes unwavering from their fixation._

"_Tomorrow." Kagome said, giving Inuyasha a kiss on the cheek before opening the door. "You'll see me tomorrow." _

After turning off the water, Kagome wrapped a towel around herself and left the showers, daintily making her way back to the lockers. Kagome removed the towel, changing into the day clothes she had brought from her apartment, and went on her way out into the main floor of the building. It certainly was a different sight during the day; the tables were empty and void of rambunctious patrons, the stage was occluded by a dark satin sheet, and the bar was…actually, the bar was mostly the same: same assortment of alcoholic beverages, same presentation and same bartender using a cloth to clean the countertops. When the bartender saw Kagome, she immediately started waving at Kagome, motioning for her attention.

"Hey! Kagome! How are you feeling?" She asked, still using her free hand to scrub her station.

Kagome gave her a weak smile and said, "Better, thank you. Still a little nauseous though…"

The bartender gave her an understanding nod. "Alright, get home as soon as possible and be sure to drink plenty of fluids!" She finished the last part by lifting a bottle of Vodka as a joke, earning a light chuckle from Kagome. "Oh, hey, before I forget: Kagura said you could come by tomorrow and pick up your check, since you'll be off for the next couple of nights."

Kagome stood there lost for a moment, taken aback by Kagura's slightly generous extension. Sure, Kagome could have used the extra money from the next couple of days but she certainly was not going to turn down an offer to remove herself from the place for the next couple of days. So, Kagome said her goodbyes, made her way through the last hallway and left the building to go and meet Sango on the sidewalk.

"Hey," Sango greeted as Kagome strolled up beside her, "all set?"

"You bet! Let's go."

* * *

He wouldn't stop. He _seriously_ wouldn't stop and, frankly, it was starting to become incredibly annoying.

Tetsuya lifted his eyes above the edge of his magazine, watching as Inuyasha continued tapping his foot rather roughly against the tiled floor of the hospital's hallway; the steady _tap-tap-tap_ echoed off the walls and bounded between empty rooms, eventually making its back to the source to be recycled and emitted again in greater volume. The cycle would then continue slowly grating on Tetsuya's patience as Inuyasha oscillated the tempo, first slower and then faster, before making a brief stop. As Tetsuya began to relax and find his place in an article he had begun reading, Inuyasha's foot would start again, and once again, Tetsuya would find his ability to concentrate slowly disintegrating.

"You know," Tetsuya said, now giving Inuyasha a rather bored look, "making a bunch of noise isn't going to speed them up any."

The two were standing in the hallway of the hospital's Intensive Care Unit, waiting somewhat patiently for the on-call staff to stabilize their victim. She was close to croaking when Inuyasha and Tetsuya discovered the girl a couple hours ago; her pulse was almost nonexistent and she was unresponsive to outside stimuli. Inuyasha had attempted to get her name for the split-second she had regained consciousness in the ambulance, but she could barely vocalize anything and could only produce a quick fragment of gibberish (the word she used was "fistchertung"). Once they arrived, the doctors marked the girl as "critical" and took her to an operating room to do medical stuff that went way over Tetsuya and Inuyasha's heads.

Closing his eyes, Inuyasha relented his incessant tapping before letting out a very audible "Feh." Inuyasha took a sip of his coffee, still reeling from the previous eight hours, before sliding down the wall onto his rump. His eyes opened in a flash, his amber orbs flickering left and right, scanning for some hallucinatory poltergeist o absent criminal to stroll into his field of view; Inuyasha couldn't put a claw on it but something didn't feel right to him. He hadn't slept well at all last night, not that good nights of sleep were common to him; however the previous night was more strained than was customary for him, and the illusions and superficial demons of his nightmares were beginning to plague his being, clawing and tearing through the flesh and bones of his subconscious defenses.

His nightly phantasms were becoming increasingly more lucid and life-like, contorting his actual experiences into hellish renderings of suffering at his own hands. He relived _the devouring of Akemi again last night, his mind guiding him slowly through the event; the spurts of crimson over the walls, hand prints smeared through the larger patches creating a pink crescent that pointed everyone to the incident. Then there was the blood, oh, and the blood there was; it had such a strange texture too: thicker than tomato soup but with this sickly sweet smell that must have tantalized every demon in the room, caressing their palettes and tempting them to join in the festivities; and the blood just wouldn't stop. It wasn't spraying out of her like a fountain, or being forced out of her body in globs as the claws ripped through flesh and organs. No, no, it simply would not stop. It is like what happens when there is a hole in one of the pipes to a sink; the water does not begin and stop at different times, it merely continues pouring out at a static pace, covering the floor and spreading out for a good few feet until someone eventually has enough sense to stop it. The problem was, no one was stopping him this time; Inuyasha had all of the time in the world to sit there, cutting through the body and being rewarded as blood stained his claws, taking the time to lick if off and continue his exploring, gnawing at the bones and chewing through the-_

"Goddamn it!" Inuyasha shouted, patting frantically at his pants. Without thinking, Inuyasha had managed to spill the remaining bit of his coffee onto himself.

Tetsuya sat down against the wall parallel to Inuyasha, laughing hysterically at his partner's lack of coordination. "I may not be a religious man," he managed to get out between laughs, "but Karma is a wonderful thing, Inuyasha."

"Oh, shut _up_." Inuyasha half-yelled, still trying to move some of the wetness off his pants with his bare hands. When that proved futile, Inuyasha maneuvered himself onto all fours and began shaking wildly like a dog. It didn't help anything, but it sure felt right to Inuyasha. "You know, you could help me out instead of just sitting there useless, Kuzuki!"

Tetsuya smiled smugly at Inuyasha. "I could but what if I miss and burn something important? Besides, I have better things to do." Tetsuya went back to his magazine, resuming the latest article on better home decoration.

Inuyasha stared angrily at him for a few moments, before settling down with a look of nonchalance over his face. "Oh man, Tetsuya. Hanako must really have you whipped." Inuyasha scratched his head and then his face. "Who would want to read that feminine thing anyway?"

Tetsuya turned another page in his magazine without batting an eye. "At least I can be whipped." He countered.

"Oh yeah? Does she make you wear a special outfit for that?" Inuyasha baited with a taunting smile.

The fushichou-hanyou set down his reading material and stared with contempt at the inu-hanyou in front of him, their eyes locking in understanding. For awhile, both sat there in complete silence, taunting each other without moving or making a sound. The tension escalated between the two, representations of demonic auras clashed against each other sending imaginary sparks throughout the room, crackling as the pressure between the two threatened to reach its climax!

However, it wasn't very poetic when the two lunged at each other and started wrestling all over the floor. Oh, sure, it was entertaining to see Tetsuya and Inuyasha rolling around putting each other into headlocks and cradles but their behavior was more of a disturbance than anything else. While going at it, they managed to piss off two nurses on break and wake up a comatose patient after being so annoyingly loud, shouting and cursing each other out as they brought their commotion into the waiting room and disturbed some of the elderly visitors.

"Take it back, Inuyasha! Take it back!" Tetsuya shouted, half strangling the inu-hanyou.

"Never!" Inuyasha retorted, also throttling his partner's neck.

"Umm, excuse me…" The two half-demons looked up from their little game toward the source of the interruption. Standing there with shaking knees, afraid to impose on Inuyasha and Tetsuya, was the nurse assigned to their victim. "M-mister Kuzuki, uh, s-sir," she stammered out, innocently oblivious to how cute the entire scene was, "t-the patient is s-stable now…you can g-g-go in and see her n-now."

"Wonderful." Tetsuya said, dragging himself and Inuyasha off of the ground. He then spent a moment wiping himself off, humming a small tune before then dusting off Inuyasha. Tetsuya put his hand to his chin, pausing to see if there was something he had forgotten to do for Inuyasha; he smacked his forehead for almost forgetting, then proceeded to ruffle up Inuyasha's mane before casually slipping the file away from the nurse and scanning through it. "Is there anything we should know before heading in?"

"Oh, y-yes…" The nurse said, taken aback by Tetsuya's antics. "Multiple lacerations and contusions on her neck and arms. The rape-kit came back negative-" and before she could finish, Agent Kuzuki was already walking down the hall alongside Agent Tadashi as the nurse hurriedly tried to keep up with them "-for tearing but we did find trace amounts of fluids and seminal acid phosphates in her throat."

As agents Tadahsi and Kuzuki reached the door to the victim's room, the nurse shouted for their attention. "Wait, uh, detectives?"

Inuyasha was becoming a tad impatient with the woman: the stuttering, her sluggish pace and her lack of candor were beginning to take their toll. "What is it woman? Spit it out."

"Right! Yes! Sorry, uh, detectives but, you see…" The nurse trailed off again, uncertain where to actually begin her statement. Tetsuya could only drop his head, hoping that eventually she would be courteous enough to share what she wanted to share, instead of keeping them from their job. Inuyasha wasn't having any of it however; sick of the waiting, he turned the doorknob to the victim's room. "This is taking too long." He said, taking a step into the room. "Come on Kuzuki, we'll find out what her prob-"

And then Inuyasha was smacked in the head by a flying food tray.

"The patient said she didn't want any company." The nurse said flatly, selectively ignoring the fact that she had neglected to inform the detectives of the patient's wishes.

Inuyasha shot up, angry as all hell. "You couldn't mention this _before_ I started walking in there?" The nurse merely shrugged her shoulders, blissfully ignorant of _just_ how angry Inuyasha actually was at the moment. Inuyasha brought his fist up as it shook in anger. "Why, you-"

"Now, now Inuyasha." Tetsuya said dragging his partner away from the nurse and into the patient's room. "Why don't we let this one go and check in on our victim. Who knows? It could be fun!"

* * *

Inuyasha sat in his chair, his knee rising and falling sporadically in an attempt to distract him from his ever decreasing reserve of compassion, as their victim continued talking, stretching past the one hour mark. She couldn't be bothered to talk about something relevant (let alone interesting), oh no, she found it best to talk about all of her philosophies and opinions about which, neither of the two half-demons really cared about. The woman blabbed on and on about her religious epiphanies and how she was brought to see the light; she informed them about the word of the Bible and what was to happen to abominations and those who lay with them; she also spent a good chunk of time berating the two of them for interrupting her recuperation period and being so rude as to simply barge into her room without so much as knocking. However, she currently was citing random scripture to support her argument that "God has ordained the wicked antithesis of his most perfect creations to death," with humans playing the role of perfect creations, and anyone of demon blood to be playing the part of screwed.

"But you see, God has a plan!" She started up again, pointing at her two spectators. "Revelation 1:7 says that He will come in on a cloud and save us perfect creatures from our oppressive cousins who desire nothing more than to kill us all!"

"Tetsuya…" Inuyasha's temper was exposing itself through the way he harshly delivered his words. "You said that this could be fun…"

Agent Kuzuki stood against the wall, lightly knocking his head against it. "I lied." Tetuysa let out a heavy sigh, trying to ignore their victim's incessant squawking; sure, they both felt bad for her ordeal and they understood that people have different ways of reacting to stress…but, in their defense, her speech was really, _really _boring. "Miss, please, we need you to tell us what happened. Could you tell us your name?"

"Stow it, you walking devil!" She screamed at Tetsuya, who was taken aback by the description that was normally reserved for Inuyasha, frantically pointing at him. "I can see through your ruse; you only wish for my eternal damnation in hell! I won't be led astray by you or your words, led to sign my name in the Devil's journal!"

Tetsuya looked back at Inuyasha, shocked and puzzled at her outburst towards him. "What the hell is she talking about?" Tetsuya then shook his head and dragged his hand over his eyes, hoping that if he refrained from visually acknowledging her she would eventually give up and actually talk to them. "Forget it, I don't even want to know. How are we supposed to help her if we can't even convince her to tell us her name?" Massaging his temples, he looked to Inuyasha more some sort of support; a nod, a gesture or anything that indicated he was still listening. Instead, he noticed that Inuyasha was now fixated on the girl, staring intently at her as she continued her ranting and pointing. "Hey, mutt-face, what's up?"

"Look at her arm." Inuyasha replied in a surprisingly tranquil tone.

Tetsuya blinked a couple times before turning his head back towards their victim. He really wasn't sure what he was supposed to be looking for, let alone which arm; they were, considering the morning she had, two perfectly normal arms. Sure there were a couple scratches and cuts and then there was the space on her cubital fossa that had seen the brunt of her drug injections, but nothing was out of the ordinary. And then Tetsuya saw it.

"Huh. I can't believe I missed that one." Tetsuya said, now looking _exactly_ where Inuyasha intended him to look (bear in mind, the girl is still ranting about Tetsuya). Tetsuya scratched his head a few times. "I really must be getting sloppy in my old age."

"You don't look a day over twenty, Tetsuya." Inuyasha replied calmly; eyes still fixated.

Tetsuya looked at Inuyasha for a moment, understanding the meaning behind his compliment immediately. They had encountered a victim with a similar mark a few months after Inuyasha had joined The Department; despite his normal behavior, Inuyasha was better at handling a situation as delicate as this one. He knew the mark; he understood the mark; he understood what she must be feeling, scared and alone in some strange hospital room with not a single caring person by her side. Tetsuya gave Inuyasha a small nod. "I'll be waiting for you in the car." Leaving the medical files on a table in the room, Tetsuya gave Inuyasha an approving smile before heading out of the door.

"That's right, you get out; get the _hell_ out of here!" The girl yelled at the departing Agent Kuzuki.

Inuyasha picked up his chair and walked up beside the victim's bed before setting it down, and lazily throwing his legs around the backside of his seat. There was a certain song and dance that had to accompany the next few minutes; a series of small gestures and acknowledgements designed to chisel away at the façade she had erected in front of them, delicately tearing down her anxiety and contempt while simultaneously rebuffing her with confidence and trust for the future conversation. Inuyasha rested his arms and chin on the back of his chair, taking a moment to breath in before beginning his work. There was always that one moment before everything started, that calm before the storm, in which everything seemed at peace; a veritable moment of nirvana, one that simply begged to experience the turmoil of actuality and be tossed over on its head.

"How long ago did it happen?" Inuyasha asked, keeping his eyes directed at the wall for a moment before past his shoulder at the girl. Perking up one of her eyebrows as she sat up, the girl shot Inuyasha an incredulous look at the intentionally vague question; however, her countenance changed when Inuyasha opened his mouth slightly and pointed to one of his fangs. Grabbing first for her wrist, and then her chest, the girl fell back into her bed with a piqued look on her face before turning her head and body away from the half-demon.

"Don't presume to know me just because of _that_," the girl said, talking to the wall in front of her. In a flash, her body movement exploded, twisting itself to look back at the figure that was forcing her to deal with the influx of memories she had; forcing her to deal with pain she had sealed off so long ago. "Who the hell do you think you are anyway? You don't know _anything _about my life!"

Inuyasha casually turned his head back toward the wall his body was facing, masking his anger from her outburst with indifference. "When I was younger, I used to visit my aunt a lot. She was sick in the hospital and had no one to take care of her." Inuyasha glanced over to make sure the girl she was paying attention. "She was so upset all of the time; she never once bothered to speak to me or anyone else that came to see her. All she did was lay there, moping around all day and when she did speak, it was only to complain about the jerk that left her. Eventually she stopped talking about that too and just refused to allow anyone to come and see her." The story trailed off and the two of them remained there in silence, letting the air settle with a faint sense of familiarity. The first stroke had been made between them, a symbolic olive branch crafted through the implied common ground.

"…Why did she have to go to the hospital?" The girl asked after a long pause.

"Dunno." Inuyasha replied, his head still facing the wall.

"What did she do when she left?" She received no reply for her question. "…Did she ever leave?" The girl sat up after asking that, expecting Inuyasha to make some sort of gesture or emit some sort of sound, but he did neither. He simply remained in his chair, motionless and uncaring to her plight. The girl sat there still as her face changed from attentive to distressed, filling with anxiety as the seconds stretched further and further on, as her questions still went unanswered from the passive hanyou. He was toying with her; she _knew_ he was toying with her but it was _still_ driving her insane. It was completely underhanded to screw with her view on mortality, especially considering _she_ was sitting, alone and uncared for, in a hospital bed. Nervous and defeated, the girl turned her head away. "Why are you telling me this anyway?"

Inuyasha cocked his head over his shoulder and said, in the most serious tone possible, "Because you're acting like more of a bitch than she did." Inuyasha and the girl stared at each other for a second, the dramatic lesson of his short story finally being revealed. The silence resumed as Inuyasha waited to see if he had shocked the girl hard enough to keep her from running that damn mouth of hers; he didn't have to wait long however. Judging by the look of genuine surprise, he knew he could carry on without any irrelevant interruptions. "What's your name anyway?"

The girl's expression changed slightly, softening up a bit. "Masuyo." She replied, hesitantly.

Inuyasha shifted in his chair so that he was sitting in it correctly, and moved his arms behind his head as he slumped down. "When did he leave?"

Masuyo gripped her wrist again, rubbing the two bite marks with her thumb and index finger. "A few months ago. He said that he was going out to take care of something and that he'd be back soon." Masuyo stopped for a moment, her eyes glowing as tears began to well up inside of her. "I waited for him too; I waited so long for him to finally come home…" she paused for a second to bring her hands to her chest, trying to stop the gushing agony of her heart, "...I waited for that bastard to come home for two months, only to find out that he ran off with some whore off the street; some demon girl he had met and had been sleeping with before we even met!"

Inuyasha listened intently as Masuyo continued, making mental notes of what she said. To be certain, in situations like these, Inuyasha absolutely _hated_ his job. Sure, interviews with families and people related to a victim were annoying and cumbersome as they were merely generic responses that became monotonous, but listening to an actual victim tell their tale is a whole other experience. When a relative attempts to describe a person's life, it's full of perception and bias leaving very little room for an actual truth to shine through; when a victim told their story, Inuyasha was faced with the truth every single time, the unsweetened and bitter truth. And the truth became harder to deal with every single time.

The first half of the Truth was simple: he couldn't protect anyone. The basis for his job was to discover the cause _after_ the event actually occurred; he didn't hunt down a criminal right before they did something, he hunted them down after they had done some horrible and atrocious thing. Inuyasha could rationalize it in the most obvious way: it's the only plausible way to prevent future crimes from occurring but the hypocrisy in such line of thinking is obvious. In order to prevent crimes from happening, he first had to permit one to occur? The logic behind the system was flawed; he knew it, Tetsuya knew it and the whole goddamn country knew it. However, other half of the Truth was just as simple as the first: It's the only way things can be done, so he might as well accept it. Still, it felt like giving up and Inuyasha _despised_ "giving up".

"How did you end up in the building?" Inuyasha asked.

Masuyo looked up at the ceiling and then back down, pressing her eyes shut and then opening them again, fighting even stronger to keep her emotions in check. "When he left I had no way to support myself," she continued wiping a couple stray tears from her eyes, "so I met up with a friend from High School." Masuyo stopped for a moment to look at the half-demon, trying desperately to force a smile out despite her quivering bottom lip. "H-he said he would take care of me." The last bit came out in a scared squeal as Masuyo began crying, her hands desperately trying to cover her face and wipe off the salty mixture from her cheeks. "I…I-I stayed with my friend and his roommates for awhile. Th-they got me into the Bible…into the drugs…they said I would need to pay them back; they said I could," Masuyo cringed violently before continuing, "_do_ things for them to pay them back." She looked at Inuyasha, teary-eyed and falling apart. "I just didn't know where else to go!"

Inuyasha opened his mouth to say something_, anything_ that could comfort her but nothing came out. With no other recourse, he decided that it was best to leave now; it was clear that she was traumatized and had a great deal of stress. It wasn't like she was some hardcore drug-runner; Masuyo was just a scared and jaded woman. Inuyasha took out his notepad and tore a piece of paper from it, wrote out a phone number and phrase, and then handed it to Masuyo.

"I'm going to send down an officer later to take your written statement." Inuyasha said, turning towards the door. "Call that number and give them that phrase; the city will pay for any expenses you have until you can get back on your feet." With that Inuyasha, walked out of the room before Masuyo could say anything. He didn't have it in him to stay; he wanted to do more to help but, aside from forcing Tokyo to pay her bills, there was nothing else he could do. Wordlessly, he left the Intensive Care Unit and took the stairs toward the lobby of the complex.

Inuyasha shielded his eyes from the sunlight as he left the hospital, adjusting to the dichotomy between the streets of Tokyo and the world he had just left. He noticed Tetsuya, waving to him across the road, and bounded over the street to meet him.

"Hey, how'd it go?" Tetsuya asked while opening the driver side door of his car, as Inuyasha made his way to the passenger side.

"Fine." Inuyasha said flatly, climbing into the car.

Tetsuya raised an eyebrow at Inuyasha, giving him an unconvinced expression. "Fine? Really? I leave you alone with some crazy woman and everything was fine?"

"Hey, lay off Kuzuki! I didn't do nothin'!" Inuyasha lashed out.

The two sat there for a moment, Inuyasha's anger facing off against Tetsuya's unconvinced reaction, until Tetsuya suddenly beamed at his partner. "I'm so proud of you dog-boy! You're finally showing some professionalism in the workplace. I have to admit, I was worried that you might say something shallow or stupid after your little tale about your aunt but you clearly kn-"

"Hold on a second," Inuyasha said, "You were spying on me!" Tetsuya could only give him a shrug of the shoulders and a nervous smile. "Feh. What happened to 'I'll be waiting by the car', huh?" Inuyasha fumed in his best impression of Agent Kuzuki.

"Well, how irresponsible would I look if I just left you there?" Tetsuya said happily. "Besides, you did well enough on your own." Tetsuya started the car and looked over at his partner. Inuyasha was sitting with his head resting in his hand, which in turned was resting on the window. Believe it or not, Tetsuya actually was proud of Inuyasha; very few times in the past two years did Inuyasha ever have to not rely on intimidation or excessive force and, of those very few times, he had always performed quite well. It was reliving to know that Inuyasha was mature enough to act according to the situation.

"Oh, I almost forgot to ask you," Tetsuya chirped as the car pulled away from the curb, a sly smile forming on his face, "how was your date with Kagome, Inuyasha?"

Inuyasha's fuzzy ears twitched at the mere mention of Kagome's name. It was such an alluring name too: Ka-go-me. Three simply syllables that were easy to remember, easy to say, and oh so sweet to think about; everything about last night was wonderful to him, despite everything that happened. That stupid bigoted punk? Fuck him. Truth be told, Inuyasha forgot all about him once he was with Kagome; in fact, Inuyasha forgot about _many_ things when he was with Kagome. His pain, his past, his discomfort all seemed to vanish around her; her smile melting away his ill-tempered mannerisms while her personality soothed his candor, dispelling all of his worries and allowing him to focus solely on her. Time elapsed further and further apart in their time together, allowing him to appreciate all of her astounding qualities: her laughs so pure and relaxed around him, her deliverance so soft and meaningful, and her lips so…

Inuyasha shifted to give the space between his legs more room to breathe, the events of last night coming back to him in _full_ detail. The feel of her lips against his, the spike in her scent when he had pushed her against the door; every irrational and seasonally affected part of his body roared for him to take her inside her own apartment, to nip and lick at every part of her body that he could get at, and to keep going until one or both of them passed out from sheer pleasure. Thankfully, Kagome stopped him before he did anything stupid but he could remember how _good_ it felt to explore her neck, to taste her silky skin and hear her giggle as he did so. Oh, and how much he wanted to take her lips again when she said, so cutely, "tomorrow"; such directness was affirming to his desires, and Inuyasha couldn't wait to be around her again; to hear her voice and see her bright and smiling face…

"That good then, huh?" Tetsuya teased.

Inuyasha flushed a tint of pink before stammering out, "What would you know about it?"

"You serious?" Tetsuya asked, with a humored look on his face. "What would _I_ know about your situation?" Tetsuya stopped the car at an intersection before continuing on, "I have a great idea! Why don't you bring Kagome over tonight to meet Hanako? She's anxious to meet your new chew-toy and then I can get to 'know about it'." Tetsuya finished by air-quoting the last part, a particularly dangerous move for someone who's driving a vehicle.

Inuyasha turned his head and stared blankly at Tetsuya, knowing full well that introducing anyone to Hanako could either go very well or very, _very_ poorly. "Are you sick in the head or somethin'? You know how she can get." Inuyasha said, referring to the aforementioned neko-youkai. It wasn't as though Hanako had a problem dealing with people, her job required it; she just had a habit, when she was off-duty and certain seasons affected her judgment, of being a tad…psychotic.

"Oh come on, Inuyasha," Tetsuya protested, "that was _one_ time and it was almost two years ago now!"

"Once? What about during the spring festival last year when she-"

"Point taken." Tetsuya didn't need a reminder of the unseemly incident last year; it had been fun, in an embarrassing kind of way that's hard to live with. "But, honestly, what's the worst that can happen? It'll be at our apartment, she respe- well, she knows you, and she really _does_ want to meet the girl you're so keen on."

Inuyasha mulled over the idea for a few moments, turning his gaze outside of the front window as he took in the city as it unfolded around him. A man on bicycle rode carelessly through the street a couple hundred yards ahead of them, students walked and gossiped with each other on the side of the road, mothers took clothes off of lines as their children tugged on their dresses, and old people flailed at kids as they stole inappropriate viewing materials; just another ordinary part of the afternoon. And that was the astounding thing; despite all of the evil and turmoil the duo was tasked with defeating, all of the malicious acts against living creatures, the people of Tokyo were blissfully unaware of it all as they spent their time on everyday chores and complained about whatever there was to complain about: people complained about demons, demons complained about humans, people complained about gas, demons complained about the government; depending on the perspective, most of those whining rants from either side seemed blind and superficial as they ignored those in the world who were less well off than themselves such as the paraplegic veteran, or victim number seven who was laying cold in box thirteen of the morgue.

Despite all of the good things happening for him, the victim he had just left was still bugging Inuyasha; her heartfelt regret for those acts of ill-repute weighing heavily on his mind, scratching the parallels to his past. More relevant however, was the perpetual struggle to find an answer to his previous problem, his inability to actually help the victims. Oh sure, he got to parade around as an agent of justice and kick the shit out of everyone who deserved it. Make no mistake that made him feel great; there is no better feeling in this world than "interrogating" a guy behind closed doors, no matter how unethical it may be. That said, at the end of the day, how is Inuyasha supposed to find meaning in his job? He enjoyed it, he truly did, but how can he handle not being able to protect everyone? Moments like this one helped in their own way; those instances where people seemed unaware of his presence or his impact on their lives. Perhaps the trade-off was worth it after all; perhaps having one victim was a better alternative to having fifty or more.

But all of that was a fleeting thought, something Inuyasha dwelled on from time to time for only a second before resuming his more relevant actions. "Fine. I'll see what Kagome thinks." Inuyasha said, still wary about the whole idea.

* * *

Kagome took a sip of her chocolate beverage, letting the delicate flavors swivel and bounce on her tongue before swallowing. Inuyasha hadn't been kidding; this _was_ delicious. Not just delicious but, truly _remarkably_ delicious. It was almost as if it had been laced with amazing, or something of equal caliber.

She took a moment to look around, blocking out the exciting tales of one of her hosts, admiring the aesthetics and ambiance of the room; the abstract coloring of the walls, the cheery atmosphere that her hosts did their best to provide and, perhaps best of all, the cute inu-hanyou that she got to sit next to. She giggled as she noticed Inuyasha roll his eyes, clearly bored with the story that he had probably heard a thousand times by now, before placing a free hand on his arm. _'So maybe I'm not actually meeting his parents.'_ Kagome thought as she took another sip from her glass._ "But I guess it's close enough.'_

_Kagome climbed the steps to her apartment building, slightly tired from her time spent with Sango. They had gone out to breakfast as planned, where Kagome had spent the majority of her time telling Sango every last detail of her date; completely ignoring her food while doing so. They had a good laugh at some of the more interesting aspects of Kagome's depiction, occasionally annoying the manager of the establishment who would flash them a glare every so often. Conversation about the previous night turned into conversations about nights even further back, which in turn became conversations about events far in the past; the two of them eventually discovering that they had gone to the same high school and only five years apart too. The two of them gossiped about whatever the hell it is girl's gossip about for a few hours and, eventually, the talk turned right back into a conversation about Inuyasha._

"_He actually went to the same school we did." Kagome said as she ordered another cup of tea. "It's so strange, not seeing him for all these years and then 'poof' there he is."_

"_Maybe he missed you Kagome. It's obvious that you missed him." Sango said playfully._

_Kagome flushed deeply; not deeply as in 'her face turned a bit red' but deeply as in, well, take a can of red paint, open it, and then chuck it against a white wall. "Well, yeah I might have missed him a little bit bu-"_

_Sango chuckled involuntarily before Kagome could finish. "Oh, come on Kagome. You're in love with him. It's written all over your face!"_

_Gripping the knob to her front door, Kagome froze. Could she be- No, no. That was crazy, stupid even. She never knew Inuyasha that well to begin with and they had only gone to high school together for a couple years; she had almost completely forgotten about him when she started dating Hojo…almost. Besides, things like "it" don't just happen spontaneously. Instances when it did were just stories that were told to little girls to get them to sleep; "It" didn't happen that quickly in real life…did it? Of course, she had been feeling differently since finding Inuyasha again; a feeling that permeated her dreams as well as her very being. But she had only met him a few days ago. __'It would be a major "no-no" to go around professing my love for him,' __Kagome caught herself thinking, __'n-not that I'm actually "in-love" with him. We're just…friends?'__ Well, "friends" probably isn't the best word but, she certainly wasn't going to say she was in "it" with him._

_Kagome opened the door to her apartment. 'Nope. No possible way that I-'_

"_Yo." Inuyasha said, clearly sitting in her apartment. Alone. In her apartment._

_Kagome let out a small scream, hurting Inuyasha's sensitive ears and causing him to wince. "What the hell are you doing here Inuyasha!" she said in a very angry voice._

"_Isn't it obvious? I came to get you." Inuyasha replied nonchalantly._

"_I mean, what the hell are you doing in my apartment?" Kagome fumed, still anxious over this unexpected turn of events._

_Inuyasha just looked at her and blinked a couple times, unaware of why she seemed so upset. "Didn't I just tell you?"_

"_Baka! You don't just break into someone's apartment." Kagome yelled._

"_I didn't 'break in' to your apartment." Inuyasha shot back, angry over being called an idiot, as he turned away from her. "You didn't answer when I knocked and the door was unlocked. I came in to make sure you were okay."_

"_Oh…" Kagome felt like a bitch; sure, Inuyasha was in her apartment alone and who knows what he could have done to her wardrobe but at least he had good intentions. "I'm sorry Inuyasha…" Kagome said sweetly, "I'm sure you understand why I got so upset…what did you come to get me for anyway?"_

_Inuyasha turned his head around to her. "Well…"_

And here she was, drinking cocoa with her…friend…and two of his friends. Inuyasha didn't have to work hard to convince her to come along; she wanted to spend more time with him and a tranquil evening of socializing was a nice change of pace compared to their last two intimate encounters.

"That story gets more ridiculous every time you tell it." Inuyasha jeered from his spot next to Kagome.

"Don't go judging me mutt-face," Tetsuya said, feigning hurt. "You haven't seen the things I've seen, lived the life I've led!" Tetsuya finished the last bit theatrically.

"Feh. Whatever."

"Oh, you two!" the neko-youkai next to Tetsuya exclaimed, smiling brightly as she did. As far as Kagome could tell, she was the sweet one of the trio, or at least, she had been to Kagome. She had greeted Kagome at the door, offered her any refreshments she might like and had tried desperately to include Kagome in all of the conversations. "Don't hog all of the talking for yourselves! So, Kagome, what is it you do for a living?"

Kagome immediately looked down, afraid to give away that bit of personal information. "Me? Well, I uh…"

"You know Inuyasha," Tetsuya interrupted, unwittingly saving the poor girl. "You should really consider getting a haircut. It's amazing that you can see anything during combat training."

"I can see well enough to kick your ass!"

"Boys, please!" The neko-youkai exclaimed again, still cheerful. "You're both behaving like children. Tetsuya, be a dear and grab some more food from the kitchen please?"

"Of course, my dear Hanako." Tetsuya bowed and then reached over and grabbed Inuyasha's arm, forcing him along who immediately began complaining about how Hanako directed her question at only one of them.

Kagome smiled as her "friend" was dragged away, amused by his antics. As she turned her attention back to the only other female in the room, she noticed that Hanako will still smiling as brightly as before. "Thank you for the cocoa, Hanako. It's very good." Kagome declared.

"Oh, thank you Kagome! I made it just for you." Hanako stood up from her position parallel to Kagome, moving to replace the vacant spot left by Inuyasha. "You know, I'm really glad Inuyasha found someone who's as nice as you are. He's been through a lot in his life and it's reassuring to see that he can still attract some pleasant company."

"Thank you." Kagome replied kindly, matching Hanako's expression. "I really do like Inuyasha and I don't plan on hurting him; we kind of grew up together, so I have an idea of what things must have been like…"

"Oh, I know you won't hurt him." Hanako said, turning her jubilant smile towards Kagome which had started to become rather creepy. "Inuyasha is like a brother to me, and I want to look out for him. You see," Hanako opened locked her bright yellow eyes in with Kagome's, making sure to capture her attention, "I run a _very_ special branch of the police and, frankly Kagome, if you ever hurt Inuyasha," Hanako's happy smile twisted into a much more sinister and sickly version of itself, creating a very disturbing aura between the two. "I'll bury your body in so many different places around the city; they won't know where to start looking."

Kagome froze, her smile masking the intense fear she was feeling. How could this sweet woman have turned so evil in less than a heartbeat?

"Do you like your cocoa, Kagome? I made it just for you…" Hanako reiterated, darkly, as she resumed her seat parallel to Kagome. A moment later, the two half-demons returned with the refreshments they had been tasked with receiving, oblivious to the exchange that had happened between the two girls. "Oh, Tetsuya, Inuyasha; you guys missed some wonderful girl talk!" Hanako chirped, her jubilant smile returning.

"That so?" Inuyasha said unaware of what the two girls had actually been discussing. Inuyasha turned and noticed Kagome, still frozen with half of a smile on her face, shaking slightly in her seat. "Hey, Kagome, why are you shaking? Are you cold or somethin'?"

* * *

End Notes: To be honest, I remarkably displeased with this chapter; in my absence from writing my creativity has reverted back to the staleness of my starting chapters and for that I sincerely apologize. That said, despite my feelings or the story's reception, I'm making an oath (possibly in blood) to finish this damn thing once and for all. Want to yell at me for my story; curious to know anything else? Sign off in the review section and I'll be sure to get back to you.


	17. Before The Plunge

A/N: Surprisingly, I enjoyed writing this chapter: I like this style of writing and it came out a bit longer than I expected. Though, as always, I felt the end was a little rushed. By the way, we should all spam LoVe23 until she starts writing again; I never watched Gilmore Girls but I'll be damned if I don't want to know the end to that fluffy story. You should also check out some of cutebaby's stuff. I can't remember what any of it's about but I know I enjoyed it! Also, let's talk for a second about Billy; Billy is a pretty cool guy, he writes reviews about my story and doesn't afraid of anything. Thanks a bunch Billy! Well, I suppose I should log on and post this chapter, despite my insecurities. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: This author expresses no ownership of any trademarked or copyrighted licenses that fall under the domain of YomiYuri, VizMedia, or any other telecasting group that deals with the animation InuYasha; this author does not express ownership of the underlying idea for this story that was garnered from the manga of the same name.

* * *

Chapter 16- Before The Plunge

Scandalous Investigations

* * *

Laying there, beneath her sheets that folded across her bosom and shielded her body from the unsavory draft she could feel etching up from the floorboards, the protruding fingers of the cold rubbing against her warm feet and eventually crawling up to blow fine puffs of air into her eyes, Kagome could not help but feel she had done something wrong. Her hands outstretched, she delicately rubbed the free space in her bed, delicately dragging her finger across the fabric causing subtle creases to appear that outlined her thoughts; ideas and questions that were a buzz in her head, crashing off the sides of her skull and sending little quakes down to her heart; irrational and spontaneous notions that she could use to justify the breach in precedent. She could feel the salt dispersing through her eyes; whether she was going to relieve it because of the air or because of her thoughts, she did not know. Kagome _was_ aware that she was being stupid.

Striking out against the empty area in her bed, Kagome shuffled furiously before pivoting over on her other side. She was _also_ aware that, despite how stupid she was being, it really did matter to her. Kagome looked out the open frame into her small apartment, growing ever more upset at its state: disheveled, empty and broken down. Aside from the bed, some books and that stereo, what did she have? She had nothing, Kagome had nothing in her apartment and she had nothing to offer; and now, he had _seen_ that. Now he knew that she was nothing; she could offer him nothing and thus was nothing. After all, her apartment in essence, was nihility; how could she be worth it with nothing?

Kagome bit her lip, trying hard to break skin, so she could stop focus on something else; so she could focus on anything other than blubbering. "Ow, ow…" she managed out after a couple seconds, her tactic failing in practice. Defeated, she folded one end of her pillow over her head, sandwiching it. Kagome could hear those voices laughing at her and the nonexistence she had become; he was probably sitting with his friends right now, laughing about how he just dropped her off at the sidewalk, not even bothering to walk her up to her apartment. How could he just leave her there like that? Sure, maybe he _did_ walk her back to the door of the complex; and perhaps he _did_ tell her that Tetsuya and Hanako really seemed to like her; and he _might_ have pushed her into the door as they said "goodbye" outside…but Kagome still felt that it was entirely plausible that Inuyasha absolutely hated her because of her apartment. It just made sense.

The salty mixture flowed gently down her face as Kagome slowly turned back around in her bed, still keeping the pillow around her. She buried her face in the cotton linen for a moment, letting the cloth soak up the tears on her cheeks, before slowly coming back up for air with a small smile on her face. _'You're being so stupid Kagome. So what if he didn't want to come up? It's not like anything would have happened anyway…' _Kagome hesitantly reached out to caress the empty spot on her bed; something felt wrong, missing in a way. Her bed may have been small but, for some reason, there was just all of this room; so much free space that she couldn't fill. She tried not to worry about it but, the thought just kept resurfacing along with so many others. Things between her and Inuyasha were just so…strange. They had moved so quickly and, even though she wanted the ride to stop, she was having a hard time doing so; she wanted to pull the brake level and send the whole thing to a halt, but she desperately wanted to let everything pan out and see what would happen.

She couldn't deny she was attracted to him and she couldn't think of one simple answer as to why. Kagome was only sure that she definitely, most assuredly _**liked**_ him. A lot. After coming to that realization, Kagome was also sure that she needed to see him; Kagome needed to talk to him, to find out where everything was going, to find out where they were going. Turning to face her ceiling, Kagome's eyes sparkled with determination; she was set on finding out what she wanted to know. Perhaps they had only been getting together for half of a week…but it had been _half of a week_ goddamn it; Inuyasha could not expect her to wait for some official acknowledgement of their relationship forever! _'Who does he think he is anyway?'_ Kagome thought angrily, bolting up right in her bed. "He can't take me out and then not tell me what he thinks of me!" Kagome exclaimed, slamming her fist down on her bed. She was resolved; Inuyasha was going to tell her what she wanted to know and that was that.

Kagome fell back to her bed, going back to caressing the empty spot in her bed; her talk with Inuyasha could wait until tomorrow. She laid there, thinking of Inuyasha and how intimate things were getting between them, feeling her heart pump faster and faster as she recalled their "goodbye" earlier. Kagome closed her eyes; silently wishing that Inuyasha had invited himself upstairs with her. It wasn't like anything was going to happen if he did…

'…_Right?'_

* * *

It was slowly becoming easier for Kagome to force herself up in the morning. The twilight of solace she received in her first moments of consciousness was beginning to shorten and, with its retraction, she could begin to feel fleeting bouts of energy; just enough to get her on her feet. Her desire to move had diminished after the accident and, many times, she would enjoy nothing more than to stop prancing around the city and wallow in her own misery. Alas there were things to do, like eat and feminine stuff, and things she _could_ do to help pass the time. Without her time to sulk thrown out, Kagome would have to fill up the extra time: studying, exercising, day-dreaming or anything else that could keep her mind and body occupied. Keeping busy would help her; help her forget her crummy job, help her forget how tough things have been and, most importantly, help remind her that she still had a life to go through.

Kagome swiftly made her bed, simultaneously making a mental checklist of everything she needed to do today. Rather, she made a mental checklist of everything she needed to do involving Inuyasha. First there was the relatively easy part of finding him; Kagome didn't know where he lived but, how hard could it really be to find one person in Tokyo? She had already done it once, granted, it was mere happenstance and it had taken a few years; but that was without trying, so imagine what she could do when she _was_ trying. Second, Kagome would have to figure out what she wanted to say; what did she want to say anyway? She could tell him how she was currently feeling. That could be a plan. Better yet, she could ask him what his feelings were. That was a much better plan, so long as he didn't think her questions obtrusive. Finally, Kagome would have to figure out how to actually bring up the conversation; Kagome didn't want to be seen as the "crazy girlfriend" but she also desired to be more than his "on-call girl".

Kagome stopped washing her hair abruptly, the suds melting down her arms as she came to a startling realization, completely unfazed by how her thoughts had led her from her bedroom to the bathroom without any sort of conscious acknowledgement. "Girlfriend." The words tickled Kagome's tongue; a tingly sensation that one gets after cutting off circulation to their arm, the kind of sensation that might be a _little_ wrong but just felt so…novel. Her lips twisted a little bit as she tried to hide the smile that had begun forming. She was Inuyasha's…girlfriend. _'It's a safe bet.'_ Kagome thought to herself as she begun washing her hair again. _'We are, at the very least, friends…and I am a girl.' _She had to be his girlfriend. Seriously, could she really be any less? _'He could be a…player!' _Kagome mused with a fake gasp.

Then she laughed. Hard.

Trying to picture Inuyasha with his own little black book was almost as funny as picturing Inuyasha as a jock. _'Sure he has the attitude to be a jock, and the athleticism, and the body…'_ Kagome shook her head, trying to clear it of such impure thoughts. When shaking her head didn't work, Kagome could only accept that it was impossible not to imagine his body and that, sadly, she would have to live with it. In all seriousness though, Inuyasha just _couldn't_ be a player: he didn't have the aptitude for it. Sure, he had been sweet and caring on their last few dates…but back in school he was just so _coarse_. He was rough, belligerent, and just so goddamn indifferent to everyone. Inuyasha could be such a jerk for no reason; the only one he wasn't _ever_ rude to was her cous-

And then she threw her soap against the wall. Hard.

Kagome turned the water off, twisting the knob so hard that it snapped off. She didn't want to think of that…_'Bitch.'_ **She** hadn't stuck around to witness what she had done to her boyfriend, to _Kagome's_ boyfriend; the few times that she had seen Inuyasha after the incident, he had _never_ been the same. He would normally give her a gesture or some facial expression and, occasionally, she would be worthy enough to receive the universal answer to everything. After the incident, he simply ignored her; she became invisible and if she tried to reappear to him, he would just ignore him. Except for one time. Kagome had almost forgotten the one time that he had actually spoken to her after everything that happened, the one time she actually reached out to him and he had-

Kagome walked out of the bathroom, towel in hand, as she felt a low rumble in her stomach. She could think about the past later. She was hungry.

* * *

Most of her day was, to be blunt, boring.

Kagome acquired breakfast, ate said breakfast, and then spent hours doing other random crap to help pass the time. First she listened to the radio, which last all but about seven minutes. Why only seven minutes? It only lasted seven minutes because the radio was a horrible and evil thing; it was clearly just trying to make her feel _fucking_ miserable. The damned thing just picked the a few songs at random to paint a very accurate (yet oddly catchy) musical rendition of her life; it was toying with her, it had to be. Just look at the way its buttons and knobs were arranged; such an awful smile it had.

Then there was her feeble attempt at studying, which last only a few minutes longer than the radio. Kagome still intended to go back to school and she _really_ didn't plan on staying at **The Neko-Niche** any longer than she absolutely had to; she still intended to get her degree in something and, in order to do that, she was going to have to knuckle down and read her textbooks. The problem was no one told her that she wasn't going to be able to understand a damn thing in those books if she wasn't constantly around intelligent people who could teach her about the basics.

Finally, Kagome just waited. Well, that's not entirely true; she did resort to simply waiting for night after a few hours (she wanted her check. It's natural to go during normal "work" hours to pick something up); however, those few hours before her simply "waiting" was spent walking across Tokyo, taking in the sights and simply strolling around. And trying to find Inuyasha, which as it turns out, was much more difficult than she had anticipated last night.

Much to her surprise, Kagome had found plenty of people that she knew: she had seen Sango with her brother, Kohaku, in a convenience store who seemed like quite the well-mannered boy considering his age (there was also a great amount of chit-chat between the two girls); she had seen Miroku an hour later when she stopped to buy a bottled water, who was busy checking out a particular section of magazines that had been occluded from view by a few rows of miscellaneous supplies (the encounter ended with nary a memorable incident…honest); she had even managed to catch sight of Tetsuya's mate who just gave her a big smile and waved at her (_hell_ no was Kagome going to approach her). Some might call the entire thing ironic, Kagome trying nonchalantly to find this guy with a one in ten billion chance of being successful, and lo and behold, she manages to find three other people with two of them knowing the hanyou intimately (_'emotionally'_, Kagome hoped) yet she couldn't find hide nor hair of the Inu-hanyou himself. To Kagome, it was just disheartening.

Kagome took her time getting ready that evening, still a bit glum about her day. She had been excited to talk to Inuyasha, to put some things into perspective for herself…but, she supposed it could wait just _one_ more day. Given his current precedent on visitations, he was bound to show up eventually…right? _'Of course he will.'_ Kagome thought, cheering herself up as she walked out of the apartment. _'He has too…or I'll kill him!'_

Walking down the darkened streets of the city didn't seem so bad that night; the cool air had reached a delicate crisp, crackling around as she took each graceful step towards her destination, filling her nostrils and lungs with the savory aroma of spring air. It was nice. It was nice to have these metaphysical moments on her way to work, the moments where things actually seemed fine, as if she _wasn't_ on her way to some exposition of living filth. For a moment, she could pretend that she had a normal job. A clean, decent, normal job. Kagome took a quick turn at a corner before walking up to the "employee" entrance to the building, or at least, what she could pretend was the employee entrance.

The door led to a hallway and, in that hallway were a collection of doors that Kagome did _not_ want to open. Her stomach lurched and leaned, its contents threatening to spill over like a ship on the high seas, as she heard various voices groan through the incredibly penetrable walls. It was a bit like a haunted house, except it had _actual_ nightmarish and scary things happening inside. A particularly noticeable moan exploded in the room next to her and Kagome froze dead in her tracks; it was the same room Sango had brought Kagome to after her little "incident". Kagome bit her lip, her arm starting to quiver slightly as she brought it to her chest; she could _swear_ she knew that voice.

Her heart began pounding, and it began pounding hard. She was frozen; everything seemed to disappear from reality, except for her and the moans that permeated the doorframe. She couldn't believe it. She couldn't _fucking_ believe it. Kagome's breathing became strained, her arm reaching out against the wall to support her; it was becoming difficult to stand. Then she heard the bed inside moving, the springs oscillating up and down at a steady pace; she could feel the vibrations off the wall hit her fingers and travel up to her head, resonating so loudly that it hurt; it hurt to think, it hurt to breath, and it hurt to feel. She wanted to run, she wanted to vomit, she wanted to barge into that room and murder every creature in there; she settled for putting her ear against the door, her breath catching in her throat as a voice, a distinctly male voice, made a sounds- a groan of pleasure- before muttering out a very audible,

"Oh, Kagura…"

She actually _**didn't**_ know that voice.

Kagome straightened up immediately, her breath returning to normal after a sharp exhale. She felt a bit better now, not counting to the fact that she just listened to two people have sex in another room while she played voyeur outside; at the very least, it wasn't anything that concerned her. Nonetheless, Kagome bit her lip again as she made her way down the hall and into the "main arena" to find the bartender. It bothered her that she was so willing to assume what she did; she wanted to have a little bit more faith in people, especially him.

Making her way over, Kagome gave the bartender a friendly smile before saying, "Hey there, how is everything?"

The bartender let out a small laugh, not bothering to look up from her work as she concocted some strange, fizzing, alcoholic drink. "Same shit on a different day, miko." When the bartender did look up, she reciprocated Kagome's smile before flashing to an immediate look of curiosity. "Hey, you look pale. Is everything okay?"

Kagome touched her face, a blush creeping across her face as she mentally walked through the incident she had moments ago. "Oh, me? Just fine! No problems at all!" She said quickly, the blush becoming ever brighter. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to interrupt you, but do you know where I can-"

Kagome was interrupted by the bartender as she pointed at a small envelope that was sitting on the counter. "Take it and get out of here; it's your day off isn't it?" The bartender smirked at her, still hard at work as she washed out some sort of mug.

Kagome wasn't sure what to say, not that the bartender would let her speak anyway. As Kagome stood there, mouth agape but clearly smiling, the bartender shooed her out, trying to get her as far away from this place as possible. Kagome was a good girl. Not the type of "good girl" that was on stage at the moment shaking her ass for a bunch of pigs; No, Kagome was just a generally good person. She didn't deserve to be working in that place. Her envelope in hand, Kagome hurried down the hallway, thankful that she'd be able to leave the place so soon; she had expected the whole collection process to be some big ordeal, with the actual envelope going missing and her scurrying around the complex in order to find it. She almost felt like skipping; the day hadn't turned out that bad for Kagome. She saw a friend, got plenty of exercise and now had some money she could use. Provided she could eventually find that Inu-hanyou, things were actually looking u-

As her frame erupted through the exit door, Kagome smacked against something that clearly wasn't malleable to her. She felt cloth brush up against her face before staggering backwards a bit further into the alley. Looking up, she noticed a man; nothing more than just a simple man, dressed in simple garb. No problems. Totally an accident. He would understand.

"Sorry." Kagome mumbled as she gained back her balance and attempted to slip by him and onto the sidewalk.

A clawed hand reached out from behind her, grabbing at her chest and pulling her back further into the alley. Kagome struggled against it, desperately wriggling to get free of this foreign appendage on her body. Another hand came onto her body, gliding quickly along her outer thigh before grabbing onto the other part of her chest and squeezing tightly. The hands guided, or rather flung, her against a wall parallel to the building in which she "worked".

"Chikan!" Kagome managed to scream out before one of the hands on her chest that had been getting just a bit _too_ grabby covered her mouth.

"Don't be so loud, honey…" came the low and rumbling voice of a creature next to her. "You're going to spoil the fun!" Once he finished, there was some jubilant laughter from a small group of men and the breaking of a street light, retracting some very previous light from the alley.

Despite the light being gone, Kagome could still make out her assailants eyes and she could tell the crucial difference between them. There were seven pairs of eyes. Seven hungry pairs of eyes that were all staring at her like animals; they had found their prey and now they were going to have their fun…at least, she could only assume that's what their plan was. Looking deeper at the eyes, she could see the eyes of four demons. A demon assaulting her was a good thing. She could survive against demons. The humans on the other hand…

Kagome bit down on the hand around her mouth, grasping down on it with one hand while the other hand when straight for that incredibly grabby hand still on her chest. She was quite satisfied with herself when she heard a couple of painful howls escape from two of the demons as their skin sizzles under her touch. Again, having demons as assailants was a good thing; she could take care of them; she could…fight them.

"I'm not afraid of you!" Kagome yelled out as the two hands retracted their grip. She could feel the blood pump faster and her adrenaline kick in as she took a step toward them, keeping an angry face as she noticed her attackers (all seven of them) take an initial step back. Her fingers twitched involuntarily as the demons of the group called her a few choice names, hew knees shaking as she slowly came to the realization that she was _actually_ going to have to fight these things off. Sure, she could do it; she was trained to do it. But…she was _actually_ going to have to fight these things. She had never had to use her abilities before; she was nervous, fearful to an extreme at this point. Kagome noticed all of her attackers move in towards her and readied herself for the inevitable. Then she heard her name being called; she only heard it once and, while the first syllable sounded remarkably distant, the second and third syllable came in as if they were right next to her.

"Kagome!" the voice shouted as it pounced on one of the demons in front of her. It was hard for her to see what exactly was happening…but she could definitely _hear_ a struggle taking place (rather she could hear someone mercilessly beating the _shit_ out of the guys in front of her)…and she could clearly see those seven eyes that had been staring at her being forcibly closed one at a time. Kagome moved out to the sidewalk where there was more light, terribly confused as to what was transpiring in the alley. When the scuffling finally tuned down to sound of one guy beating up (what she could only assume to be) the unconscious forms of one her assailants, Kagome took a stab in the dark, asking the first thing that came to her mind.

"Inuyasha?" Kagome called out timidly, bracing herself for the worst. When she finally saw those gorgeous eyes of his and twitching dog-ears come out into the light, she threw herself at him, embracing the Inu-hanyou as she began lightly crying into his chest. Of all the times that he could have shown up, how lucky could she have been to have him show up _right_ at that point in time? "Inuyasha!" she cried out.

"Kagome," Inuyasha began, holding her to him, genuine concern showing in his voice, "what the hell are you doing here?" He looked down at her, the small girl in his arms whom he was deathly afraid for a few minutes ago, hoping like hell that he had come before those bastards…Inuyasha let out an audible and fearsome growl before embracing her even tighter. _'If they split even one hair on Kagome's head…'_ he thought to himself, rage seething over his mind; he planned on killing them. He honestly truly did. And he would have done it if he wasn't so worried about just getting Kagome away from them. Cupping her chin so that she would look at him, Inuyasha spoke again. "You could have been killed, baka."

"I would have been just fine!" Kagome cooed to him as her face turned pink. She had meant it to come out _much_ angrier than it did…but she just couldn't, she was too happy to see him. "I can take care of myself." She told him, her eyes locking onto his.

Inuyasha stared at her for a moment, looking deeply into her chocolate orbs, letting the moment linger for a few moments. He wasn't sure what he _could_ do at that moment…except stay like that…until he noticed the small cut in Kagome's clothes, and the small knick on her chest from one of the demon's claws.

His head spun around to look at Kagome's attackers as they lay unconscious on the ground, his only thought being to find the one who scratched her and sever that bastard's head from his spinal cord. Inuyasha couldn't seven see straight at that point, his vision becoming blurry as he let out a terribly violent hissing noise at the assailants, fangs bared in such a menacing way.

"Inuyasha?" Kagome tugged at his shirt, trying to get his attention; she wanted to know what seemed to make him so angry all of a sudden.

Turning back to her, Inuyasha just stared at her again, uncertain what to say at first. And then, he turned away from her and knelt down. "Come on. It's not safe here."

Kagome considered questioning him first to find out where he planned on going, to maybe found out how he had gotten here so quickly, but she decided against it: anywhere other than here would be better at the moment. And anywhere with Inuyasha was even better.

"Kay."

* * *

Kagome bolted upright with a small gasp, a cold sweat skating from her forehead and down the side of her head. It took a moment for things in her field of vision to crystallize, her heartbeats slowing down slightly as she took in the comfort around the room; everything was fuzzy for awhile, but she could make out the obvious shapes. There was light, natural light, coming in to her right so that had to be the moon. The sky was still dark so it had to be the moon. It was the only logical choice.

Then there was the small desk that was to Kagome's left. A desk that, unsurprisingly, was not her desk; and across the room was a closet that was, most assuredly, not her closet. Kagome could help but let out an amused sigh, _'Gee, it feels like I've been in a situation like this before.' _As things became clearer to Kagome, the finer details of the room coming into view, she felt herself unable to hide a content smile; unlike the last time she had passed out, she had a very good idea of where she was. Still, she should make sure…

"Hey." Inuyasha's voice came in as clear as day to her: a sunny and remarkably _beautiful_ day.

"Hey yourself." Kagome replied before turning her head to see him, standing in the doorframe with his arms folded across his chest. "Where am I?"

"My bed." Inuyasha said simply, not moving from his spot.

Kagome smiled a bit brighter at him, although she was unsure as to why, before noticing a glass of water that had been placed on the desk, obviously for her. As she reached for the glass, Kagome pulled her knees closer to her chest, creating a little heap in the covers…wait, what? _'Did he…did he tuck me into __his__ bed?'_ Kagome pondered to herself as she took a small sip of the water. After she took a few more hasty sips, realizing she was indeed quite thirsty, Kagome patted the spot on Inuyasha's bed where her feet had been, motioning for him to sit down. Silently, Inuyasha complied with her request; he sat down, right in the spot she had indicated like a good dog, and rest his back against the window all while keeping his arms crossed.

The two sat there in silence for awhile; Kagome would take a sip of water and stare at Inuyasha, and he would just sit there, eyes forward, with his ears twitching every few moments. Then the cycle would repeat and, to be honest, Kagome thought it a bit strange. Here she was, in _his_ apartment and sitting in _his_ bed, completely vulnerable…and he wasn't doing a damn thing. Inuyasha was just sitting there so intently, as if nothing was going to budge him at all; he had barely even moved when he noticed her wake up. That's when Kagome realized it. She had seen him assume that same attentive position in the past. She had seen _this_ type of Inuyasha before.

"You've changed since High School, Inuyasha." Kagome said suddenly, her eyes flickering with visible joy.

"I have not!" Inuyasha asserted, taken aback by her statement.

"You have so!" Kagome teased him, inching a bit closer to him. "You never would have been kind enough to me to bring me back to your house, let alone snuggle me into your bed, in the past." Kagome finished and moved her body a bit closer to his. His amber eyes were still diligently scanning the door frame, but she didn't miss the small twitch they displayed when she had started talking about him. "I bet you couldn't even name one thing about me from before. You didn't even pretend to like hangi-"

"That's not true at _all_, Kagome." Inuyasha interrupted, turning his head to face her, a flash of hurt on his face before being replaced by genuine care. He paused for a moment to turn his body to her, bringing his legs up and crossing them before setting a hand on his knee. "Your favorite color was purple, you hated that Yumi girl in your geometry class, and you were a horrible cook." He said, as the fingers on his free hand counted each description.

Kagome sat there flabbergasted. She really didn't expect Inuyasha to remember anything about her past…that or she had forgotten just how bad of a cook she actually was; leave it to Inuyasha to remind her. "How did-"

"You told me, remember?" Inuyasha interrupted again, his eyes softening as his lips threatened to let forth a smug grin. "We were at-" Inuyasha faltered, a flicker of pain in his eyes before lowering his head slightly. He didn't want to finish; right now was definitely not the time to bring up _that_ part of his past.

Kagome nodded in understanding, realizing what Inuyasha was going to say next. Her cousin had a party for her birthday. Kagome's mom wanted it to be a surprise. Kagome and Inuyasha had been asked to set up the decorations and, of course, they were purple. And Kagome spent the entire time telling the hanyou all about her favorite color while he told her that he didn't care. Come to think of that, they had done that sort of thing many times when they were "forced" to bear each other's company as they waited for someone. Kagome would try and talk to him, always happy and about something concerning her day, and Inuyasha would try to ignore her and then talk down to her; then they'd fight and he would say "Feh." Then the same thing would happen the next time. Kagome had always assumed that he truly paid her no mind.

Putting her hands on both of his cheeks, Kagome pulled him a bit closer. "Yes. I remember, Inuyasha." She said as she moved her lips to his, locking them both into a very sweet kiss. Kagome could feel Inuyasha's hands work to bring down the blanket that covered her waist; once he had succeeded, he gently placed them under her thighs and lifted her onto his lap gently moving the kiss to her lower lip.

Inuyasha pulled back sharply and gave her an intense stare. "You're the only one that's changed, Kagome." He said, separating out the syllables in her name.

Kagome stared back at him, shocked at his sudden change in countenance. "I have not…"

"Ya' have too." Inuyasha countered, still staring at her intently. "You were always so…weird."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Kagome shot back, her attempt at appearing angry hampered by her arms snaking their way around Inuyasha's neck.

"After your first day of school, you always seemed to want to talk to me if I was around." Inuyasha said sternly. "And whenever you hung around me, you never _once_ told me what the hell it is you wanted."

"Well was it that hard to figure out?" Kagome nearly yelled, her face turning a bright red at the irony of the situation. Here they were, talking about her pathetic attempts at flirting with him in the past while being cozy in his bed...his _bed_.

"Whatever." Inuyasha said as he narrowed his eyes at her. "And if I've changed so much, how come you still want to be around me, huh?" It was a stupid question; remarkably stupid, considering Kagome's initial contrast implied a much more desirable quality over his present persona. Inuyasha realized this about a second after the sentence finished, but given his character, he wasn't about to admit how stupid it was.

Kagome gazed into his eyes for a moment, uncertain with how to respond to him. She smiled coyly at him first, making sure _he_ knew that_she_ knew that _he_ knew how stupid that statement was (Inuyasha's eyes gave it away), before pressing herself a bit closer to him and stating, incredibly cutely, "I don't know."

The passion took over them again and their lips pressed together, as Inuyasha quickly slid his tongue in her mouth and relished in her taste and acceptance. Kagome's hands tried to find a place to rest on his back but, instead, they roamed to his chest and began exploring, occasionally tugging at it. She could feel Inuyasha's hands in her hair, pulling gently as he laid soft and delicate kisses down to her neck; gently nibbling and licking in one spot. Kagome could see his ears, and she so desperately wanted to rub one right now: they felt so nice to the touch and…she just liked them, but first she had to take care of something.

"Inuyasha, stop." She commanded, a bit more severely than she intended. As Inuyasha looked up at her, clearly distressed at her change in mood, Kagome gathered up her courage as she tried to ignore the thumping in her chest.

"Inuyasha, what am I to you?"

He just sat there with her in his arms, dumbstruck. He had this really strange look in his eyes too; he was genuinely surprised by the question. Not in a disturbed way, or in an excited way. Just simply surprised.

Then she heard Inuyasha laugh for the first time. He was laughing. At _her_.

"Come on, Kagome." He said, nuzzling into her neck before looking directly into her eyes. "You're a smart girl. Do I really need to spell it out for you?"

And Kagome looked into his eyes, so strong and yet so tender that gazed into her very quintessence, connecting the two of them on a level she thought only existed in silly books and tall-tales, and shook her head. She kissed him gently before moving to gently nibble on one of the fuzzy triangles atop his head, earning a very affectionate and approving growl from _her_ Inuyasha.

* * *

End Notes: Comments? Concerns? Feel like being an annoying troll and calling me a flaming homosexual? Just hit the review button and tell me all about it!


	18. Setting Sun

A/N: Hey everyone. Not thrilled with this chapter; mostly content concerns, some plot problems. If you've been rechecking previous chapters you'll notice that there have been some serious changes. Had to happen. Thanks to those of you who happened to subscribe or favorite this story (or me!)!. _**LoVe23**- I''m glad I decided to finish this too, **Biaunica**- Not sure, I'll have to ask; then again the story is only another few chapters so..., **Koko**- I suppose I was asking for it.,** lynzi**- Thank you very much! _If you're hard up for good fanfics, might I make a suggestion? **Bumblezee's** is shaping up incredibly well; Kagome's Secret Buttons, while full of lemons, is amazingly well written (**WhatVVB**); You should also check out Life At Demon Slayer School by **purduepup**! With that, I guess I'll post this chapter; for those of you interested, Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I, GodOfFlame101 under the alias of Damien, do not own any copyrights, Trademarks or affiliates of the Anime/Manga InuYasha. I receive no revenue from this story and this story may be distributed or revoked by the will of the producers of said Anime/Manga without myself seeing so much as a penny.

* * *

Chapter 17- Setting Sun

Scandalous Investigations

* * *

'_This is fucking weird.' _Inuyasha thought as he tensed his hand, scratching at the fluffy pillow underneath his head.

Laying there in the precipice of consciousness, Inuyasha could not invoke any of his senses except that of touch; his hearing and sight for the world of dreams and the world of reality were lost to him, drowned by the stagnant white haze that had washed over his mind. He was in a state of perfect dualism, his mind and body able to feel the collision of the two realms; his mind could feel the embrace of dreams slowly retracting its delicate caress, while his body could begin to feel the snuggling of reality upon him. And, for what seemed like the longest moment of his life, a shade thin of eternity, Inuyasha felt completely and _truly_ at peace.

His eyelids felt heavy, as did the blankets that covered the majority of his form; they were so soft to him, everything was so soft. He couldn't move his body. It was glued in place, it had to be. Or maybe it wasn't. Maybe he just really didn't want to leave his bed. But why; why wouldn't Inuyasha want to leave his bed?

The most enjoyable sensation rung throughout his body, vibrating along his muscles and sending small fire crackers off in his brain. If he could have moved his body, he didn't know what the hell he would do; Inuyasha would have done amazing act of contortion to physically display how _good_ he felt at that moment. As his sense of touch became more in tune with reality, Inuyasha realized what was causing such a relishable reaction to occur; it was his damn _ears_! Someone was rubbing them! Oh, Inuyasha dearly wanted to be able to say something, _anything_, that would let whoever was so generous know that they were a fucking _saint_; Oh, how he wished this person knew just how un-fucking-believable he felt because of them. Then, Inuyasha did the strangest thing.

He giggled.

Inuyasha shot up, his hands casually falling into his lap as his face washed over with a blank expression. He blinked a few times as he looked lazily to his left and right, trying to find out who had made that notice. It was so…squeamish and giddy. And it sure as hell wasn't one of Kagome's giggles. He pondered on the sound for a few more moments before he felt a silky smooth hand rub a small circle in his shoulder; more sensations went coursing though his body as he maintained his blank visage.

"H-hey." Kagome said shyly, her face flushing a bit as the Inu-hanyou turned around to look at her. "Good morning."

Inuyasha gave her a few blinks, still contemplating what could have _possibly_ made that noise he heard. "Hey." He couldn't help but notice that, after the wordless blinks, Kagome had bit her bottom lip. He wasn't sure why but, there were important things to uncover first. "Did you hear anything a second ago?" He asked.

Kagome let out a sharp exhale, relief refilling her lungs at Inuyasha's candor. She had half expected him to – well, it wasn't important. "Your alarm clock went off a few minutes ago." Kagome said sweetly, inching closer behind him and laying her chin on his shoulder. "I tried calling out to you, so…" Kagome trailed off as Inuyasha's ears twitched slightly, smiling to herself. Those ears were just too cute. "Maybe that's what you heard?"

Inuyasha thought about it for a moment. It sounded about right to him. There wasn't anyone else in the room besides Kagome. What else could that sound of been? Satisfied with that conclusion, he adjusted his priorities. Twisting himself onto his knees, he caught Kagome's chin and gently pressed his lips against hers, giving her a proper 'Good Morning.' Inuyasha almost smirked when he heard a small moan resonate in her throat as he gently grazed his claws down her side, bringing his hands to rest just above her hips; he _did_ smirk when she guided his hands _onto_ her hips, pushing their kiss deeper as she delicately played with his tongue. That smirk was still on his face when Kagome pulled away from him and placed a quick kiss on his forehead.

Inuyasha watched as Kagome moved over to the edge of the bed and leaned over, extending her arm for something that was on the floor. He remained silent as she grabbed his shirt and pulled it over her body. It wasn't until she actually got off of '_their'_ bed that he began to feel a little anxious; they were in the middle of something important damn it. "Where're you goin'?" Inuyasha asked slightly dejected, that smirk still sitting on his face.

Looking back at him, Kagome's faced turned pink, then red, and then scarlet as she prepared to answer him. She placed her hand on the doorframe, her knees shaking a bit. "I'm hungry." She said, before quickly hurrying off, not leaving Inuyasha a chance to call after her.

Inuyasha stared at the doorframe where his Kagome had been standing, waiting patiently to see if she was serious or not. It's not that he didn't believe her, it was just the fact that Kagome had seemed so distraught when she had spoke. _'She must still be mad at me for calling her a terrible cook.'_ Inuyasha mused to himself as he jumped off of the bed. _'And here I was thinking I made up for that.'_

He took a glance around the room, noting how the bed was in _much_ better shape than any of his previous nights of sleeping alone in it. Normally things would be amuck and he would be forced to spent this downtime before work picking up the pieces to another fragmented night of sleep; today however, things were actually in their proper place. Pillows were at the head, blankets across the torso. Nothing seemed out of order. Inuyasha turned his view to the mirror, sighing at the mess that was staring back at him. The reflection looked as though he had slept in an underpass; not to mention that there were these fucking _marks_ everywhere. Inuyasha brought his hands up behind his neck, smiling slightly at the man in the mirror. He felt _good_.

He hadn't felt this good since…hell, he had _never_ felt this good.

Inuyasha put his hands down on his dresser, looking himself in the mirror for a bit longer before rummaging through the storage space, clawing for something decent to wear to work. _'Fuck work.' _He growled in his mind. Work was just a burden; home was (quite metaphorically) where his heart was. Sure, he had to finish the case…but honestly, when you compare Tetsuya's constant humor to Kagome's everything, who wins out. Throwing some clothes on, Inuyasha inwardly grinned, well aware of who won that showdown.

* * *

'_Stupid. You're so stupid Kagome.'_

Kagome nervously swirled the eggs in the pan on the stove, her arm jittering every few strokes as she attempted to play back the past ten hours for the ninth time. Oh, she remembered everything quite vividly the first time, but just to be safe, she really should go over it one last time; after all, she could have been dreaming the whole time. The apartment, the eggs, his shirt? Those could all be illusions of her unconscious mind. She glanced behind herself, expecting to see some grotesque centipede woman jump out of a cupboard in the kitchenette and scare her awake. Hey, it could happen.

She went through the events slowly, still stirring her eggs (whatever she originally planned on making being _long_ forgotten by now), letting the evening come back in lucid snips. First she was walking to her "job" and she got her check; then she was fondled, pulled into a back alley and nearly forced to fight; then Inuyasha came (Kagome let out a small squeak of joy) and brought her back to his house; then they had a moment that could pass for romantic; then-

Kagome's face flushed and her stirring became rather vigorous as she remembered the next event in explicit detail.

-And now she was making breakfast. In his house. Wearing his shirt.

'_I should go, I should really go.'_ Kagome thought to herself, relaxing a bit from her task_. 'After the way he looked at me this morning, he probably didn't expect to see me.'_ Kagome looked shock as another idea came into her head. _'What if he didn't __want__ to see me this morning?' _Kagome's blood seemed to drain from her body, as if someone had stuck a straw into her heart and was sucking out her livelihood. Everything around her came to grinding halt, giving her ample time to let that thought weigh down; the staggering conclusion that threatened to break her happy version of last night…and simultaneously enraged her.

Kagome felt her bangs cover her eyes as she looked down into the pan, the food making a shrill laugh at her sadness as the steam rose; she poked the eggs a couple times to remind them that she was still there, that they didn't have to be so cruel in front of her, but they were indifferent to her feelings. They simply squirmed around in their little hell-hole, having a fit of hysterical laughter over her naivety and the trust she had placed in the Inu-hanyou. She thought that his words meant something? _'Ha. The eggs laugh at your stupidity.'_ She thought it was something special? _'Ha and again they say Ha. How special can one inexperienced girl be?'_ Kagome's mind wandered back a bit; she wandered to a moan, a sigh, a series of affectionate and ecstasy-laden growls. "Inexperienced, huh?" She whispered angrily to the inanimate objects. She flared up and gave the eggs a few vicious pokes for good measure, shutting them up for good, before taking a couple deep breaths.

Kagome looked back up and smiled at herself. She was nuts. Absolutely nuts. She was fighting with _eggs_ (in her defense, the eggs did have a French accent).

Letting out a sigh, Kagome turned off the gas to the stove, giving herself a second to catch up to her thoughts. _'You're overreacting Kagome.'_ She thought. _'If he didn't want you here, he would have said something by now. You've seen way too many bad romance movies. Inuyasha cares about you, and you know that.' _Kagome sighed again, thinking about how much trouble she was putting herself through because of that damn dog: the constant questioning, the pleasurable sensations he gave her, the happiness she gained in just being around him, and how she constantly had to worry about what he thought of her. Take this morning for instance. She had woke him up, made sure he was all riled, and then left to go make something to eat. So, after all that does Inuyasha know think of her as The Tease? The Crazy-Clingy Girlfriend? Or just as Kagome? She needed an answer to that question damn it and it was his entire fault that she even had to worry about in the first place! _'Ugh. Men.' _Kagome thought, laughing a bit as she did.

"What are you laughing about?" Came a husky call as a strong arms wrapped around Kagome's waist.

Kagome melted into his touch, her knees threatening to give away unless she rested her body against his. "Hey." She responded softly. She had been saying that much more around him. The way he clouded her head tended to block out her vocabulary.

"Hey yourself." Inuyasha responded, laying a quick kiss on Kagome's neck, causing her eyelids to flutter. "Now answer my question."

Kagome did her best to ignore him, confidently reaching up to a cupboard where (she hoped) the plates were. Inuyasha's embrace slackened so she could grab one, and she did; she scooped her breakfast onto the plate and fell back into her Inuyasha, who retightened his hold with one arm as he acquired a fork for her with the other. For a few moments they stood there, swept up in each other, perfectly content. They could feel each other's warmth as their heartbeats seemed to synchronize, almost as if their very life force was becoming joined. It was quite a feeling for either of them.

"Tell me." Inuyasha prodded, bringing his hands to her hips.

Kagome just smiled, still keeping quiet.

"Fine." Inuyasha said, removing himself from her. "If that's the way you want it…" He quickly picked up Kagome and walked over to the couch, now forcing Kagome to witness his own disregard as she squealed out her demands to be relinquished from his grasp. Jumping over the back, Inuyasha landed in the couch seat bottom-first with Kagome in his lap, the plate in her own; before she could speak, Inuyasha quickly pressed her into an intense lip-lock.

"Inu-ra-ra…" came Kagome's reply as she struggled to say his name whilst simultaneously enjoying how he ravished her mouth.

* * *

Tetsuya arched his back as he let out a morning yawn, joints cracking as he stretched his arms to the ceiling, tipping the chair back as he moved. With a frustrated groan, he rubbed his cheek as he brought the ceramic mug up to his lips, taking a small sip of his hot water. Work hadn't even started and his day already sucked.

First, Hanako had a "headache" this morning. In the middle of Spring. Who the hell pulls a line like that in the middle of Spring? Hanako, that's who. Sure, when Tetsuya has a "headache" he's expected to take some pain killers; Not Hanako. Oh no, she needs her beauty sleep.

Second, someone stole his damn rolling chair. It may not seem like such a big deal…but it was a pretty big fucking deal. That was _his_ chair; while the concept of personal property may have eluded some members of The Department, it was something Tetsuya treasured. The bastard who took his seat was effectively stating, 'Hey, I can take anything I want of yours.' It was a personal insult on Tetsuya's character; this man thought that he could just step all over the Fushichou-hanyou and get away with it. Tetsuya almost wished that the mystery mongrel would make a move on his mate; he had a perfectly clean Beretta with the serial number filed off for just such an occasion.

Finally, as if his day hadn't begun sourly enough, there was no damn coffee at the office; some bastard (and Tetsuya was willing to bet it was the same one who stole his chair) had finished the rest of it. Lieutenant Amaya had buried him and Inuyasha in piles of requisitions forms, clearance logs and other general bureaucratic bull that needed to be completed before they could nab Afon'ka.

Tetsuya ran his hand across the back of his neck. _'At least I'll have Inuyasha's subdued nature to keep me company.' _He thought as he rolled his eyes. Tetsuya honestly wasn't sure he'd be able to quip back at Inuyasha's attitude today and, if he knew Inuyasha, the Inu-hanyou would be even more vehemently enraged today; it was a Monday after all. And no one likes Mondays.

Turning himself around in his remarkable uncomfortable new chair, Tetsuya watched as the elevator doors opened and the mess of coworkers waltzed out. Some of them he knew intimately, others he wished would jump onto some sharp rocks. Eventually he noticed a certain silver-haired half-demon come strolling out, starting the morning countdown until his day truly began. Tetsuya gathered all of his morning resolve into his polite smile as Inuyasha trotted over to his own desk.

"Good morning, Tetsuya."

The blue-haired hanyou's face faltered for a second, disbelief written all over his countenance. He stayed eerily silent as he watched the scene unfold. Inuyasha sat down at his desk, took out a pen, and began working on the rather large stack of papers in front of him…all without complaining, and with a very _small_ smile on his face.

"Good morning, Inuyasha." Tetsuya replied as he brought his mug of hot water back up to his lips, eyes still wide in surprise, as he contemplated what had just occurred.

Inuyasha was supposed to come in and begin squawking over all of the files on his desk; he was supposed to call his partner by his last name this early in the morning. He was not supposed to give his partner a civil greeting; he was not supposed to be working with a smile. Ever. The latter was just a Law of Nature. It had been proved by science. Yet here was The Great Inuyasha, the one who spent more time than anyone complaining about anything, sitting quietly in his chair and doing his work.

'_It's creepy to say the least.' _Tetsuya thought as he remained statuesque, his mind wandering off into possible reasons for Inuyasha's extreme, yet refresing, change in behavior.

Inuyasha peered over to his partner, who had been sitting there silently for the past couple of hours now. He was tempted to say something and bring Tetsuya out of it…but, whatever his partner was thinking about was probably pretty important. Inuyasha went back to his work, focusing on all of the tedious scribbling he would have to do: the mind-numbing monotony of signing his name on every single form, the exhausting action of double-checking and then triple-checking to make sure everything they would need was documented. No one told him about all of the superfluous toil that went into setting up a single sting. It was mind-blowing.

There were armament requisitions forms for both him and Tetsuya. Seven magazines of nine-millimeter ammunitions for their firearms had to be ordered in addition to the request for their "special arms" to be released to them (Tetsuya had a couple favorites that he liked to take out for "covert" affairs). Then there was all of the legal crap they had to adhere to; pretty straight forward mumbo-jumbo similar to the _Miranda Rights_ back in America. It was all boring stuff to him. All Inuyasha wanted was to rip off Dimitri's balls, was that so much to ask for?

Inuyasha put down his pen and let his arms collapse on his desk, putting his head down soon after. This was all so boring and bland. He wanted something that was stimulating and tasty; like Kagome.

His heart-skipped a beat at that idea, his mind fogging up at the mere thought of the woman: her voice, her smile, and the way she looked at him; the focused gaze that let him know he was the _only_ one she was paying attention to. The fervor he had whenever she was near him was sublime, and every action she took would cast him deeper and deeper into euphoria. The way she caressed him, the way nibbled on his ears (Inuyasha's ears twitched at the thought of this), and the mutual comfort they shared increased Inuyasha's hankering for her. He wanted – no, _needed_ to find her after he was done staking out the club tonight, if only to hear her say "Hi." Inuyasha let out a sigh most melancholy; he wasn't sure he would be able to wait that long.

"Inuyasha?"

His ears twitched. His nose took in her scent. He had been so busy thinking about her that he hadn't even noticed when she strolled up behind him.

"Kagome?" Inuyasha replied as he picked his head off of the desk and turned around, taking in the pulchritude of her adoring gaze, surprise registered on his face. "What are you doing here?"

"I-um…" Kagome was struggling to find the words, looking into his eyes and then away with a slight blush. She did this a good few times before finally saying, "Here." She handed him a brown paper bag that, as Inuyasha could tell, clearly had the scent of her cooking inside of it. "I made you a lunch before you left. I forgot to give it to you on your way out this morning."

Apparently, the sound of a bag rustling as it transfers hands lies at just the right frequency to knock Tetsuya out of any "think-zone" he might be in. That or something Kagome said knocked him out of his trance, not to be confused with her effect on Inuyasha which would be sending him _into_ one. Tetsuya took a small sip of his water, wrinkling his nose and bringing the mug up to eye level to inspect the thing. He let out an audible groan as he checked the clock on his desk; he had zoned out for a good two and a half hours. Not his personal record, but still troubling.

Taking another sip of his water, Tetsuya let his eyes fall to the change in scene. All of the liquid he had drank that day threatened to come back out in a surprised-spitting motion as he watched Inuyasha's gaze and speech soften to Kagome as they chatted about feelings and what not, his mind not fully absorbing the words that danced between their ears. Sure, The Lieutenant might be upset that he was so behind on the day's work, but Tetsuya was much more entertained by this little public display of affection his partner was having; this was something Tetsuya thought he would _never_ get to see.

"I'm sorry." Kagome said as she took a step closer to her Inuyasha. "I don't want you to feel like I'm crowding you."

"Will you stop it?" Inuyasha asked softly, grabbing one of her hands and massaging it gently with his thumb. "I already told you not to worry about that."

Tetsuya blinked a couple times, trying to grasp the phenomenon that was his partner. _'…The fuck is this?'_ Agent Inuyasha Tadashi doesn't gently stroke the hand of women, tell them "not to worry", or gently lay a kiss on their forehead next to his own desk – let alone _at all._ Agent Kuzuki gave the apparent couple a quick look-over. There was something remarkably…odd about the two of them; some anomaly between their combined presence that seemed to glisten like an aurora across the sky, a grand spectrum of luminosity that flickered and bent between the two, arching its heat towards either of them in quick succession and trailing across their bodies in zealous provocation.

Then Tetsuya grinned slyly, realization setting in.

"I have to go." Kagome said, giving Inuyasha a quick peck on the cheek. "I'll see you later?"

Inuyasha gazed longingly at her, the energy in his amber orbs threatening to spill out in a fiery display. "Can I see you tonight?"

Kagome gave him a small nod as she scratched one of his fluffy ears, eliciting a very quiet purr from the Inu-hanyou who heard as Tetsuya snickered at his desk. Then, she gave him another quick peck before departing with "See you tonight, koinu."

Tetsuya's grinned slackened a bit as he leaned back in his chair, eyeing Inuyasha who proceeded to sit back down and paw through the contents of the brown bag, carefully removing every item and placing them on his desk as though they were precious gifts from heaven above; Inuyasha delicately examined each item, taking in the fragrance of Kagome's scent that mingled with the smell of the foods she had prepared for him (surprisingly, he felt as though he might be able to tolerate her cooking).

"What have you got there, Agent _Koinu_?" Tetsuya teased.

"Feh."

"You know, you should feel pretty special." Tetsuya said as he starting writing on the papers on his desk. "Hanako _never_ makes my lunch anymore."

Agent Tadashi turned to his partner, his amber eyes now glowing with smugness as he waved one of the items Kagome had packed for him around. "Jealous?" He asked, stretching out the word to make his point.

Agent Kuzuki ignored the question, turning his attention to the neko-youkai who had just walked out of her office; Lieutenant Amaya waltzed past the two of them, hips swaying slightly and deliberately, as she made her way to the water cooler, presumably to refill her own mug. "Why, Lieutenant Amaya," Kuzuki called out as she made her way back across their desks, trailing one of her claws across the Fushichou-hanyou's desk. "You're looking remarkably radiant today."

The Lieutenant smiled coyly at her subordinate, languidly stretching over the metal barrier between the two as she rest her elbows on it and brought her head down into her open hands, her eyes hiding back a few choice emotions that were tearing at her insides. "Good morning to you too, Agent Kuzuki." She shook her pretend tail in the air, daring to get a bit closer to the detective, biting her bottom lip as he smiled at her – that stupid goofy smile of his that she had the pleasure of seeing every single day for the past ten years. "You and Agent Tadashi have everything in order for tonight?"

Kuzuki gave her a quick nod, his eyes still fixated on her. "But of course. Officer Hisoka will be there to lend a hand and we have all the requisition forms right here." Tetsuya tapped the large stack of papers on his desk, moving one hand to caress Amaya's forearm. "Tonight should be fun."

Lieutenant Amaya stopped shaking her ass and lowered her eye-lids at the hanyou in front of her, giving him all the visual cues he needed to catch his mistake, before remarking, "So going to watch half-naked women that aren't your mate is your idea of fun, huh?"

"Well-uh, that's not what I-" Tetsuya stammered out.

Lieutenant Amaya raised an eyebrow to Tetsuya, almost daring him to send himself into the proverbial dog-house; not that she could _actually_ do that to him. Oh no, Tetsuya's mate needed a few of his appendages to survive this stupid season; then she could send him to the dog-house. Amaya got in a bit closer to him and whispered, "I wonder how much fun you'll be having when your mate wakes up _every_ morning with a 'headache'." With that, The Lieutenant walked away, leaving a slightly nervous hanyou behind her and another one snickering in the background.

* * *

Their figures stepped silently, stealthily creeping through the dark alleys of Tokyo, avoiding the waning gaze of the street lights that cut through the nights. The neon signs guided their path, serving as ever present beacons for their dark fellowship to track, trudging against the blackened sky as the turbulent filth that diffused through the structures on any side of them traveled upwards and outwards, dispelling into the warm spring air. They kept their pace even, moving quickly against the foreboding clouds above them; a slight drizzle beginning to fall, gently tapping on the glass that decorated the buildings. It was almost a melodious in way, as the natural percussion of hurried footsteps and _rat-a-tat_ rhythm of falling rain collided into a single, gentle, plainsong.

The rain increased its pulse, now cascading from the tempestuous sky, caking the windows of seedier businesses in dirty wetness; the rain increased its fervor, threatening to soak the trine in the tears of the dark. Fog decorated the inside of glass, masking the less than quality attractions that made up most of the city's sleazy night life. They passed by the standard street ornaments: a beggar, a few hookers and petty opiate users. However the trio dared not intervene on such trifling occurrences, for they were pursuing greater misdeeds, following a policy of "look, but don't touch."

The trine arrived at their destination, a neon sign flickering in and out of consciousness before them as bass-laced music threatened to implode the doors. Their faces were complacent, though one seemed a bit too giddy for his own good, as they approached a fourth figure taking monetary sums and eyeing the trio's "accessories" disgustedly. As if on cue, there was a shuffling of cloth as firearms traded hands. The fourth figure nearly attempted to take a rather obvious katana, until his neck was thrust a wet brick wall. Pleas were heard and concise explanations were established before letting the poor human go, his body falling to the ground as he coughed deeply. The three slipped into **The Neko-Niche**, finding a particularly appealing booth amidst the clutter of debauchery and general shenanigans taking place around them, finally ready to begin their agenda.

"Don't you think you were a little hard on the poor boy?" Tetsuya asked as he shrunk into the booth. In return, he received only a gruff "Feh" as Inuyasha clambered in next to his partner.

"Indeed." Miroku acceded, filing in across from the two half-demons. "It would have been wise to show some amount of mercy in your actions, Inuyasha."

"Gimme a break." Inuyasha muttered, crossing his arms against the verbal tag-team he was up against. "That kid should learn to keep his hands off _my_ Tetsusaiga."

Tetsuya shook his head, ignoring the curt tone of Inuyasha's voice – though it was to be expected considering his attitude on people touching his katana (family history and all that jazz) – and glanced around the establishment, taking into account key details that may be important later. The music was obnoxiously loud, prancing around in an absurd fashion from wall to wall and setting an ambience of distortion, altering auditory perception to keep people like him and Inuyasha from digging too deeply. The multi-colored lights danced around the place, cool cones of cyan and magenta dipped to and fro, always keeping a spotlight on the main stage festivities.

A waitress – if you prefer to call them that – waltzed up to their table, bouncing herself in place so the men could take a good look at all of her "assets". She was an odd thing, dressed up in some sort of half bunny and half French maid outfit, the black bustier cut open slightly revealing a dangerous amount of cleavage, as she bent over the center of table and asked if she could "get them anything" in a particularly sultry voice.

"Why yes you can my lady." Miroku said, clasping onto the waitresses hand. For a split second the half-demons could almost make out a look of disdain creep over her face before she curled her lips into a smile. "I have never seen beauty such as yours. Tell me, would you consider bearing my child?"

Inuyasha scoffed at this, half-expecting the girl to recoil and slap the perverted officer; instead, she giggled coyly and maneuvered her body onto his, mounting him and shyly grinding against him. "Maybe some other time honey." She turned her attention to her unfazed onlookers and asked, "Can I get you boys anything?"

Tetsuya gave her a smile and a wink. "White Russian."

Inuyasha shook his head, and watched as the poor girl trailed a finger down Miroku's chest before excusing herself. _'Probably going to take a shower after that.'_

Miroku looked back at his comrades, grinning madly after his little affair. "Tetsuya?" He asked, his grin growing wider by the second. "My dear friend, how can I ever repay you for bringing me here?"

"You can thank _us_ by actually doing some work tonight." Inuyasha cut in, angered by Miroku's implications. He had done an equal amount of work on this case too damn it.

"Now, now, Inuyasha." Miroku groaned, raising his hands in protest of his friend's abrupt outburst. "Let's not be so callous. I plan on doing my part and helping you acquire all the information you need." Miroku put a hand to his heart and pointed a finger in the air, signaling that he was ready to step on his high-horse. "However, I simply cannot ignore a beautiful woman, no matter how dire our task may be. Though, if I may be so bold to ask, where do you suggest we start Inuyasha?"

Inuyasha's arms tightened their grip on his chest as he turned his head away from Miroku's smug stare, damning his perceptive nature; he honestly wasn't sure what Tetsuya had planned for tonight. Sure, they were doing reconnaissance but exactly where they were each assigned was still up in the air…and Inuyasha had been caught up too far in his own thoughts to really pay attention to the mini-briefing he received earlier. He was anxious –excited even – for a chance to see Kagome tonight. _'Man, I sounded like a sick puppy earlier.'_ Inuyasha's throat released a hollow growl as he remembered the afternoon event. _'What the hell was I thinking? "Can I see you tonight?" Goddamn it. She's going to think I'm some sort of spineless wimp.'_

"Alright you two." Tetsuya interjected, motioning towards the returning waitress. She daintily handed him his drink before turning to Miroku, giving him a wink while licking her lips, and then strutting away. "Enough bickering. We'll set up zones of reconnaissance. Miroku can take the east side, and Inuyasha," Tetsuya turned his head toward the Inu-hanyou, "you can take the south."

Inuyasha snorted. "Big surprise you let the lecher scope out the area teeming with whores and the sound of sex."

Miroku gave a feint gasp and look of theatric shock, his hand shooting to his heart in mock hurt. "How can you say that about those lively angels of the earth, and how can you insinuate such brash claims against me." Miroku pointed his finger at Inuyasha, who in turn dropped his eyelids. "Simply because women aren't lining up to open their legs for _you_ does not make them prostitutes. Maybe they would if you didn't try to scare them off."

Inuyasha growled at the street cop, his fangs bared against the musty air as he contemplated whether he wanted to tear apart Miroku's view of him, or tear apart Miroku himself. Instead, he settled for an alternative: giving a quick "Feh," Inuyasha lazily pulled out his cellphone and flipped it open.

"Oh look, Miroku. Someone's callin'."

"Really? Who?"

"Fuck you, that's who!" Inuyasha exclaimed as he held up his middle finger to Miroku, a triumphant smirk plastered across his face.

Tetsuya let out an audible groan, clearly perturbed at the lack of serious action being undertook. "Could one of you possibly go out and do what you're being paid to do, please?" He stirred his drink a bit, taking out the straw and tasting the cocktail. "And _only_ one of you at a time. I don't want anyone getting suspicious of three guys walking around aimlessly."

Miroku stood up, glaring at Inuyasha (who reciprocated) and excused himself. He walked a few feet to where a couple of the other "waitresses" were standing, then proceeded to engage them in what one would assume is some friendly banter before they walked off down a hall for more jovial conversation…that or Miroku chatted up some girls and proposition them – all in support of a decent cover, of course.

Inuyasha watched as he strolled away, more or less ashamed of him although he was unsure as to why. He glanced around where Miroku had been; a collection of dolled-up women, some of them not even old enough to drive, sauntered around provocatively rubbing themselves against patrons or attempting to titillate the crowds by contorting themselves into suggestive positions. One of the girls caught saw him looking around and began to approach him with a mischievous smile; her fake countenance daring him to get caught in her seductive stroll towards him, eyes gleaming as she watched him notice her and quickly turn around.

He inwardly cringed when he realized that she was walking towards _him_, smiling at _him_. He kept his gaze forward, trying desperately to ignore how the volume of things around him seemed to slip from reality, leaving only the evenly placed sounds of her footsteps toward him playing in his mind and the rhythm of his heartbeat. Inuyasha didn't want to admit…but this girl was _crazy_ cute; her skimpy outfit that just begged to be ripped off, her supple body that could due with some nice fondling and her-

'_No.'_ Inuyasha thought as the blood rushed to his head (the one where his eyes are damn it), impeding any future complex thoughts. His breath caught in his throat when felt a gentle caress upon his shoulder, drawing little circles on him as an arm snaked around the other shoulder.

"Hey."

The owner of the voice began massaging him, slowly gliding one hand down across his chest and then up and down his abdomen, treading dangerously close to his waistline. She kept swirling little circles on him, chuckling softly at how tense he was, occasionally dipping her hand onto his thigh. For a demon, he was pretty cute.

"Get off." Inuyasha replied harshly.

He heard a soft chuckle as her arms pressed harder against him, rubbing him vigorously to match his tone. "Oh, the rough type are we?" He could feel her breath now, beating against his ears as her teeth threatened to nibble on them. "I like that." She said as she rubbed her hand against his member.

Inuyasha's head spun around, ivory fangs bared and eyes crimson red, as he let out a violent hiss; the look of Pissed was evident all over his face as his threatening sound scarred the _shit _out of his attempted seducer. She doubled back in fear, an astonishing look of pure concern for her own life on her appearance, as she quickly scampered out of the area. Part of Inuyasha didn't want to let her get away; part of Inuyasha wanted to hunt her down and tear her limb from _fucking_ limb for touching him there. Who the _fuck_ did she think she was?

Tetsusaiga pulsed against Inuyasha's side, gently returning him to his normal (Ha. Inuyasha is normal?) state, his blind anger subsiding for the time being. _'That little…'_ Inuyasha thought, still upset that someone had tried to tempt him. He was _not_ going to fall into any traps damn it; he didn't need some pointless sex right now. Not now; not ever. Not while he had Kagome…

Inuyasha looked down at the table, troubled by his now complex thoughts. Just how long _would _he have Kagome? More importantly, how long did he _want_ Kagome? A word passed through his mind, one that gave him a clear indication of how long he felt like he would want her (starts with a 'for' and ends with 'ever')…but would that be the case a year from now? A month? Five minutes? He didn't want to get _too_ involved with her – _'Too late for that.'_ Inuyasha thought to himself – if it was just to mean nothing later on. Inuyasha wanted some more concrete, something serious, something like-

"Something on your mind, Inuyasha?" Tetsuya asked, still stirring his White Russian, completely indifferent to the little show that had just occurred.

Inuyasha sat quietly, his eyes still directed disconnectedly at the table. He took notice of his claws for a moment, how they had begun scratching at the table and peeled over a fairly hefty chunk of material from the tabletop. He struggled internally, his pride confronting his curiosity and meddled predictions of the future; his temperament staring down his emotions. He _hated_ asking Kuzuki for advice – hell, he hated asking advice from anyone – but, this time, Inuyasha felt as though he had no other option. "You and Hanako have been together for a long time."

Tetsuya chuckled as he continued stirring, ocean-blue eyes fixated on the gentle current he had created. "You're just now coming to terms with this? And here I thought you were getting sharper in the old noodle." He paused, waiting for the verbal backlash Inuyasha would probably give.

"…How did you know she was…right?" Inuyasha asked. "For you I mean."

Agent Kuzuki twisted his head to look at his partner; he opened his mouth in surprise, trying to form some sort of sentence, stunned by Inuyasha's odd question. "I-I just sort of…knew, I guess." He said eventually, turning his head back to the cocktail. "I got this feeling…and then I knew I wanted to be with her."

"Okay, but how did you _feel_? Was it like you would-" Inuyasha cut himself off, debating how much he wanted to admit about his uncertain feelings. But he needed to know; he needed to know if what he was feeling was the correct feeling; he needed to know if it was something substantial or something passing. "Would you have given anything to just be with her?"

"I gave up my wings, didn't I?"

The reply was eerily cold, with such a tone unlike that Kuzuki, that Inuyasha thought someone else had answered for him. The two sat there in silence, the sore subject eliciting conflicting emotions from either person. It had been years since Kuzuki had last mentioned his amputation, and he never did bring it up again until now; bits and pieces of the story made its way to Inuyasha's ears but he never did get to hear the whole thing.

"You never did tell me how it happened." Inuyasha said solemnly, half expecting some long and exuberant story, the other half expecting his partner to reach over and smack him.

Instead, Tetsuya took a shallow breath, unconsciously reaching his arm to rub his back, and talked casually. "The Iwaki-Tokyo operation went fubar. I was given a choice; save myself or save Hanako. I think the results speak for themselves." He glanced over at Inuyasha who was giving him an intense look, his face struggling to find a suitable reply. "Don't give me that look. Things could have been worse. Losing the ability to fly is _nothing_ compared to what I could have lost."

Inuyasha sat there for a minute, connecting the pieces of the past, arranging the new information into his chronology of life. He wasn't sure what to say; the conversation had taken a turn he hadn't expected. Though, as a consolation, his clustered thoughts on the future had settled down a bit, leaving him with a decent idea of the path he wanted his own life to follow.

"Miroku's coming back." Inuyasha noted, his ears picking up the officer's laughs through the various noises.

"Well, then you should probably get to work then, huh?" Tetsuya asked, finally taking a sip of his drink.

Inuyasha left and walked to the south of the complex.

* * *

He ducked from the view of the passing camera, camouflaging himself with the shadows of the darkened corridor. For a hallway adjacent to an incredibly noisy strip-club and brothel, the area was pretty quiet. Only the occasional thump of a bass beat or muffled roar of horny men seemed to permeate the steel door, leaving the mechanical motor's delicate _whir_ to keep him company. However, at that moment, he really wasn't feeling a need for company.

Inuyasha dashed underneath the unwavering stare of the camera, plucking a green wire that connected the base to a small black box underneath the lens, effectively disrupting its thermal imaging. Ahead, he saw a second camera with the same mechanical get-up and repeated the process: he would wait nearly a minute for the camera to turn into the perfect position before quickly maneuvering to disable it. He almost had it down to a science at this point.

Stalking through the darkness of the corridor (which was much longer than was necessary), Inuyasha moved at a snail's pace, taking excruciating pains not to make any noise for concern of what may lay beyond the next metal door. His movements were precise and reserved, keeping focused on lighted areas around him, preparing himself for anything unexpected. He had to. He was going in blind after all; for all he knew, there could be ten armed men through the next door all poised to rip off his ears.

The door ahead of him made a sound, a minute click as the handle was jittered on the opposite side. Inuyasha threw himself against the wall of the doorframe, nestling in between the corner as the metal contraption swung open and covered him from view; the sound of a man, unable to hold his liquor, came buzzing down the hallway amidst the angry curses of two other men. The drunkard walked down the hall as the door closed behind him, completely oblivious to the silent hanyou. Inuyasha placed his ears against the steel door, listening for the two other men, attempting to pick off their voices and judge their distance from his entrance.

He listened intently to their conversation, their stupid and infuriating conversation, until they finally decided to relocate far enough away; he heard their footsteps proceed away from the door before finally, slowly and steadily, opening the door and then quickly slipping into the room. Not one to risk getting caught, Inuyasha quickly jumped to the ceiling, latching onto one of the water pipes extended into an aerial path around the area.

Looking down he could see boxes being put on shelves and arranged into neat piles; he could see Vodka bottles scattered around on tables, ordained with a classic Russian brand name. He watched from his spot, maneuvering as he saw fit, as the two men spent their time moving bottles from one pile – giving them a quick shake and inspection – into several of the empty boxes around before they were placed into yet another pile; he watched as the two men stopped to take a drink from a bottle with a _different_ brand label than those that they were packing.

Quick as a flash and quiet as a mouse, Inuyasha leapt down to the table to grab a bottle before hurriedly maneuvering back into the dark corridor. He had a hunch about what was in that bottle; he had a hunch about how Dimitri was selling it.

And if Inuyasha was right, then he and Kuzuki had just hit the jackpot.

* * *

End-Notes: For awhile, I considered breaking this up into two chapters...but that went against everything I stood for at the time. Comments? Concerns? Sign off in the review section!


	19. And the Horse You Rode In On

A/N: Blah blah, I don't like this chapter – I hate my writing blah blah. Normal rant stuff today guys. This chapter is _long_. Capped off right before twenty pages today which is why this is a day late. This makes me sad because, during the conceptual stage, I had much more I wanted to say and it all kind of fell out when I was writing. Oh well, hopefully someone enjoys this. _**Michelle**_ – I won't spoil anything but I did take a different approach. _**Cutebaby**_ – Glad to hear you're enjoying everything again. Let's see if this chapter can keep you interests, eh? _**LoVe23**_ – You're always so supportive. Thank you! _**Koko**_ – Totally blew my mind with your historical anecdote. _**K1nt0**_ – Thanks for the support! Also, been reading your '_Cupid_'. It's shaping up nicely.

* * *

Chapter 18- And the Horse You Rode In On

Scandalous Investigations

* * *

"Sit boy!"

Kagome stood there waving the chopsticks full of noodles around, a maniacal smile curling on her lips, humored by the look on Inuyasha's face. He looked absolutely _mortified_.

"Damn it, Kagome!" Inuyasha half growled out, moving his head to keep a lock on the ramen that she so cruelly moved through the air. "I ain't a dog ya' know!"

Despite his claims, Inuyasha still attempted to bite the food out of the air whenever she brought it close to him only to be met with nothing as she bolted back at the last possible second. Then she would wave it in front of his face again, prompting him to try again, knowing full well that he would _not_ be getting _anything_ until he succumbed to her dominatrix-like wishes and sat down. His pride would only protect him for so long until his need to please her, as well as his disturbing desires for food, overtook his sanity and forced him to obey; in time, Inuyasha would act like a good puppy and beg for his treat. As much as he wanted to hate that realization…he couldn't help but get a tad bit excited from it.

Truth be told, Kagome had initially been worried that Inuyasha wasn't going to show up tonight. She spent the whole day worrying over whether or not he actually would, planning miniature trips around Tokyo to occupy her time. She strolled through the day lit streets, walking past high-rise apartments, as she took the time to window shop for things she would never be able to afford. Kagome engaged in conversations with people walking their dogs, finding that she had suddenly become _quite_ interested in knowing how dogs – er – "worked." She took the time to observe the clouds roll by, frowning at the foreboding puffs of darkness that began to cover the sky, grandiose stretches of gray that masked the shining sun from view. Sure the sun might still be there, but at first glance, it would seem as if the sun had abandoned the people.

That evening, Kagome came home, determined to do something pertinent to her existence; she couldn't allow herself to spend the entire time concerned about her boyfriend. She had her life, he had his, and they both had to live it. So that's what she would do.

That plan lasted all but five minutes until Kagome started worrying about him. _'What if Inuyasha decided not to come tonight? What if he got shot on the job? What if he got shot and that's why he wasn't going to come tonight? How could he be so stupid as to get shot when I'm waiting for him?'_ Eventually, Kagome settled herself down enough to take a shower and take some "personal time" followed by a nap. She would rise sporadically, unable to actually doze off, to check the time, biting her lip each time the clock skipped ahead another half-hour with nary a knock on the door. Around midnight Kagome finally heard someone at her door, though after several hours of waiting, she was positive that it couldn't be Inuyasha.

And boy, was she glad to be wrong.

Inuyasha didn't even wait for her to finish saying his name before wrapping his arm around her slender frame and bending down to kiss her passionately, pushing them both back into her apartment. When they managed to get back to the table, Inuyasha plopped a bag down before scooping her up and setting her down on the counter; he hungrily nipped at her bottom lip, begging her to let him taste more of her. Both of them grinned into the kiss when Kagome refused, delicately teasing him with affectionate bites on his upper lip before parting and placing their foreheads together, simply smiling at each other. She _probably_ should have smacked him for barging into her apartment like that…but it felt good being this close together; it felt right.

Plus, he brought food. How could she kick him out when he brought her a free meal?

"Oh, come on, Inuyasha." Kagome pouted, still waving the ramen in front of his face. "Do it for me? Please?"

"Feh." Finally Inuyasha sat down in the wooden chair with his arms crossed, an annoyed look on his face as Kagome perkily came up and gave him the noodles he had been eying for the past minute.

Kagome beamed at him from ear to ear, languidly bending over him and putting her mouth to his ear. She couldn't help but giggle at how stiff he had become just from her moving toward him (take from that what you will), and Kagome could only imagine what he must have been thinking about at that very moment when she brushed her body against his, her hot breath against his ear as she whispered, "Good boy."

It took every last bit of restraint in Inuyasha's body to resist throwing Kagome on the table, start tearing off her clothes, and begin pleasuring her body with his tongue. He could hear the laughing as she gently nicked his ears with her sensuous nibbles, gently rocking against him as she sat down in his lap. Inuyasha lifted his arms in an attempt to ensnare her in an embrace, but Kagome would have none of that; she would much rather hear him growl in the frustration of having such wonderful and small things done to him, without being able to reciprocate. It was cute to her.

Inuyasha looked up at Kagome, his eye twitching from being denied her embrace. "Stop that. Right now."

Kagome dropped back from his ears and tilted her head at the Inu-hanyou. "Stop what, Inuyasha?"

He growled at her (she was not impressed), despite how aroused he was with the current situation. Yes, it felt fucking great to have her rubbing her backside into his groin as she nibbled his ears – and her affection towards his fluffy triangles _never_ got old – but he was a tad annoyed that he was simultaneously being stimulated and opposed by her; Kagome was being a damn tease and she knew it.

"You know damn well _what_!"

Kagome put a finger to her chin in thought, wriggling slightly in his lap as she did. She tapped her chin, mumbling and mulling over what Inuyasha could possibly mean, as she reached up to gently scratch the top of his head, her fingers gliding against his gorgeous silver locks.

Kagome sighed, defeated. "I haven't the slightest clue what you're talking about."

Inuyasha glared up at her, damning how remarkably cute she could be. "Whatever. Just remember that _you_ asked for this."

Snatching his wrists out of Kagome's grasp, Inuyasha quickly stood up and slung her over his shoulders amidst fervent protests. He carried her into the bedroom against her playful struggling and giggling, reminding her that this was all her own doing. In fluid movements, Inuyasha set her upon the bed and pinned her to it; he gave her a quick peck before cracking his knuckles into the air, forcing a mock look of horror on Kagome's face. Slowly he brought his hands down to her abdomen and began poking around, simply waiting to hear a single solitary laugh come out of her. After a couple seconds, it did and he went to work: tickling her with no mercy as she laughed and begged him to stop the joyful torture.

"Inuyasha, don't!" Kagome managed out between laughs. "Stop!"

He relaxed the motion for a moment, bending down to kiss her smiling face before trailing his finger down her body; her beautiful face, across her partially exposed collarbone, through the valley between her breasts, and then tracing up and down the shirt on her abdomen, his claws itching to tear through the delicate fabric.

"What's that you say?" Inuyasha teased, running his claws down to her waist and pulling her shirt up slightly as he continued tracing. "Don't stop?"

He pulled back to get a full view of her, smiling gently at what he saw. The moon was shining through a crevice in the black sky, passing through the polarizing shades on Kagome's window and illuminating her body against the shadows of the room. Her big brown eyes sparkled in the light, dancing around it and looking back at him with such a wide range of emotions: trust, comfort, other ones that he couldn't quite pronounce. Her onyx hair was tossed casually to one side, cascading down her white pillow like black water. She coyly put her arms across her chest when she noticed him staring, but she reciprocated his smile. His golden eyes then looked down at her tummy, so neat and trimmed that it practically begged him to follow the toned lines of her muscles, to guide his hand down just a bit further…

Kagome truly was beautiful. Much like the way a painting is before the artist begins his work; the simplicity of the pure canvas is, in of itself, pure beauty. The unpainted paper is perfection because it lacks any sort of flaw; there cannot be an antithesis if there is no fundamental concept. Oh, to be sure, Inuyasha really wanted to paint…_really_ wanted to…but he let the desire go for the time being. They could work on artwork some other night. For now, he just wanted to be around her; he wanted the pleasure of knowing that the two of them were the only thing in the world that mattered, if only for a the night.

Inuyasha bent down to gingerly peck her lips, trying to ignore her silent prodding for the kiss to go deeper. He quickly grasped the covers at the foot of her bed and threw them over the both of them before lying down next to her, wrapping an arm around her.

Kagome snuggled in closer to him, resting her head against his chest. She listened to his heart, silently willing hers to follow his rhythm. Though, her heart ended up skipping a beat when she felt him run a clawed hand through her hair. It was funny to her how small things like that could have such an impact on her…at least they did when it was from him.

"Everything okay?" she asked lamely.

"Yeah." Came the simple reply.

"…This is nice." Kagome stated after a small silence. "Laying here like this."

"Is it now?" Inuyasha answered, gently running a clawed hand down her back.

Kagome nodded into his chest. She wanted to say more, she wanted to say so much to him for some reason – the intricate nuances of her feelings, the small and fleeting problems in her life, the grotesque and hideous situation she was in – but she couldn't think of any words. She was too content to think of words. Words were complicated. Being happy with the moment wasn't. And she was so happy with him. More happy than she could let out with words. Words were beginning to seem more and more like a burden than anything else; they were complicated and inadequate at describing her feelings. Kagome closed her eyes, taking a quick glance at her Inuyasha, before silently falling to sleep peacefully and soundly.

* * *

Tetsuya leaned back in his chair and put his legs onto his desk, staring blankly at the ceiling above him. Around him people shuffled from area to area, working like busy little bees. Yes, that's what they were; they were all small creatures that performed together in order to power The Department's executive functions. Some collected paperwork like nectar from flowers, some sifted through said paperwork and dispersed it throughout the veins of the building like insects who traversed the honeycombs to supply the blooming bastard children with their nourishment. Then there were people like Lieutenant Amaya who made sure everything was where it was meant to be, like a bumblebee that keeps stinging a child's foot and warns him not to go near that which he does not understand.

Tetsuya glanced over at Inuyasha's desk, its owner currently napping on a personal computer that was ironically in hibernation. Where did he and Inuyasha fit into this? What was their purpose at this place? Sure, they did the critical jobs; they took care of the more open-ended and high priority cases. They did the shit that the lazy bastards in Osaka couldn't even _think_ was possible. But what did it all mean?

It's not been particularly touched on, but Inuyasha and Tetsuya had seen some weird cases in the past couple of years and none of it has been particularly bearable if taken incident by incident. Interspecies gang-rapes, attempted basement genocides, humans being torn limb from limb in the dead of night and the list goes on and on. Acts of violence always sound tame when spoken of in retrospect with an indifferent tone; there's a purpose behind the apathy. Being uncaring about the past is the only way to actually push forward into the future. Sure, romanticists will argue differently and spout their nonsense that "so as the past was composed of us, the future shall be composed of the past" and what-not but, Tetsuya was willing to bet, they hadn't seen the kind of bullshit that can _really_ disgust anyone; the kind of shit that burns its way into a person's retinas and keeps a still shot of the incident on their mind forever. It's even worse when you're made to remember the victim's name: _'Haru, Rie, Mitsuro, Hitomi...'_

Tetsuya closed his eyes as he looked back at the ceiling, remembering every detail about Hitomi's case. In fact, it had been the first case that Inuyasha and he had worked together on. To make a very long, and appalling, story very short: the two hanyous managed to track down the girls scent (Tetsuya was incredibly happy to have a dog as his partner for this very reason) and, by the grace of some divine being, managed to get there in the nick of time. The poor girl had been raped, beaten, starved, raped, chained naked to a wall, raped, sexually mutilated and then left to die. In that order. Growing up as a demon in Tokyo, you see some pretty nasty shit but there are just some things that heritage can't prepare you for; Inuyasha ended up vomiting for a good couple of hours.

"_Does it ever get any easier?" Inuyasha had asked him._

"_I hear it's kind of like having a baby each time." Tetsuya replied. "In which case, No."_

The Fushichou-hanyou shook his head, clearing his mind of the past. There were other things to be concerned with.

"Kuzuki," Lieutenant Amaya's voice bellowed from her office, "Get in here."

Tetsuya walked down to the Lieutenant's office, smiling goofily, convinced that she was going to ream him for something he said earlier or for some ambiguous task Inuyasha and he forgot to perform. However, when he entered into the room, he couldn't help but drop his countenance into a cold glare. The Lieutenant was standing behind her desk with her arms crossed, leaning against a small filing cabinet. To her right was a man that Tetsuya had sincerely hoped jumped off of a burning bridge or got his cock trapped in an icicle. He had met the man once before, during a joint operation in Moscow a few years ago. Needless to say, there's no love lost in their relationship.

"Agent Kuzuki," Amaya began, trying to hide the anger seething out of her voice, "I'm sure you remember Special Agent Kirilenko of the Russian Federal Security Service."

**Kirilenko-Fedir**, a slimy Russian bastard who managed to slither his way up the ladder of the Russian federal forces. He served a stint in the Russian military as a platoon leader during the Laotian campaigns. Afterwards, he transferred to the FSB and slowly worked his way up. Fedir goes a long way to enable the Russian stereotype of a nationalistic and selfish bastard; he loves to claim that everything he does is for his homeland, yet somehow, all of his cases end up benefiting him more than anything or anyone else. He worked with Agents Kuzuki and Amaya a few times. He was also one of the informants for the Iwaki-Tokyo operation a few years ago.

Tetsuya gave the Russian a polite nod, wishing that Amaya would turn her back for a moment so he could rip that smug smile off of Kirilenko's face. "And here I was wondering when I'd get to see my dear friend again. So, chap, what brings you to our neck of the woods?"

Kirilenko's smile grew a shade wider before answering, "Dimitri Afon'ka."

The hanyou threw a hand behind his head, putting on a mock perplexed look. Tetsuya already didn't like the way this was going – and things tend to go poorly when a Russian federal agent waltzs in all happy-go-lucky. "You needed to fly out to little old Japan for a _Russian_ gangster? Pardon my directness, but shouldn't you be looking for him in, say, Russia?"

Kirilenko's smile, that smug fucking smile, threatened to grow wider still as he tilted his head slightly. Sadly, the agent knew Tetsuya's verbal charades all too well; Kirilenko was having a hard time deciding whether or not to enable him for a few moments before dropping the big bomb.

"Not looking. As I was telling your _lovely_ Lieutenant," Kirilenko dragged out the word, chuckling inwardly when he saw Tetsuya's hand clench, "FSB has been monitoring Afon'ka daily. He is under our watch and I can confirm that he is not, in any way, involved with this _minor_ epidemic you have going on."

"I'm sorry. I couldn't hear you with all the bullshit coming out your mouth." Tetsuya said dryly, earning a glare from his commanding officer. "Would you mind trying again?"

"Anything for you, Tetsuya." Kirilenko baited, his grin threatening to swallow his face. "Dimitri is not in, and will not be coming to, Japan. He has no financial ties to this **Neko-Niche** and is not involved in any of its dealings."

Tetsuya stared at Kirilenko for awhile, debating on whether or not being locked up in a gulag for maiming a Russian operative was worth it or not. "I've got a bottle of something that's _not_ Vodka that says differently."

"And I've got federal backing that says otherwise."

The Lieutenant cleared her throat and interrupted the two of them, thrusting herself off of the filing cabinet and catching herself by throwing her arms down on her desk. "Enough." She said, turning her attention to the Russian. "I've seen about enough of your hide. Go back and tell your director that we'll stand down. Oh, and remind him that if he ever sends an Agent into _my_ jurisdiction without _my_ authorization again, I'll lock them up make sure they're tried for espionage. We clear?"

Kirilenko let out an amused chuckle before straightening his cap and heading towards the door. Before exiting, he stopped in parallel with Kuzuki, anxious to mo the hanyou further.

"I haven't seen you around Moscow for a while now Tetsuya. If I didn't know any better, I'd say," Kirilenko pulled out a pair of sunglasses and stuck them on his face, "you haven't been able to _fly_ up."

Hanako and Tetsuya watched as their special friend walked away, slightly amused by the atrocious one-liner he had just pulled. Regardless, it didn't evade the Fushichou-hanyou that Kirilenko was a snake and was clearly protecting his own assets. "Would you look at that? He can even lie in perfect Japanese."

Lieutenant Amaya sighed, clearly not happy with the situation. "Yeah, but it doesn't matter. Orders came down from JDSF. We're playing ball whether we like it or not." Amaya looked at him, completely serious. "Shut it down."

"The Afon'ka sting?" He asked. She only gave him a nod. "You've got to be _fu-_"

"Watch your mouth, _Agent_ Kuzuki!" The Lieutenant snapped at him, her temper flaring over. "I don't care if you like it or not. Just do it without the fucking lip!"

He looked at her for a long time, their eyes meeting each other with fiery passion over their causes. The tension grew in the room as neither backed down; they were both severely distraught over the situation, but, at the moment, there was more to it than that. Tetsuya and Hanako were fighting for dominance, to see which one would truly stand up for their convictions. He couldn't help but fight a small grin as they continued into the next couple of minutes; she could be so sexy when she was feisty. Eventually though, he gave up and walked out. He had phone calls to make and alibis to plan.

Tetsuya walked back to his desk, surprised to find that Inuyasha was awake and doing his work, albeit, with his normal grumblings and cursing.

"Hey." Inuyasha said, ready to tear apart the stupid paper he was writing on. "I miss anything?"

"Nope." Tetsuya responded quickly, taking a seat at his desk. "Just making some more preparations for tonight."

"Sure." Inuyasha stated sarcastically, twitching his ears once to signify that he had heard the brunt of the conversation. He didn't have to say anything more. He knew the shtick. Inuyasha wanted to pull this sting even more than his partner at the moment.

* * *

Sango brought her shaking hand to the door, the other one draped across her chest, searching for the courage to knock of the sweet girl's door. When she initially heard the news, Sango had been animated about delivering telling Kagome going so far as to get her Judo outfit dry-cleaned for the foreseen ass-kicking she would have to do. Oh, when Sango had been informed, she had been Mad. Not pissed, _Mad_. She actually broke a chair against the lockers back at "work" and put a hole through the ceramic tiles in one of the shower room walls.

How could she not be Mad, considering what she had been told; how could she not feel for Kagome, the rather sweet girl that had come into their family a week or so ago, who was unknowingly betrayed by the family? True, Kagome could have been a total bitch-slut-whore who deserved to drown in a gutter and wouldn't give a damn about what happened – Sango had only known her for a week so it was entirely possible that she wouldn't care about the incident...but Sango felt like Kagome was a good girl in actuality with a rather innocent nature. Call it Woman's Intuition; call it a sixth-sense, but Sango truly felt a connection to the girl…and she knew this was going to hurt her.

Drawing in a deep breath, filling her lungs with nerve-calming air, Sango gently knocked on the door to her friend's apartment. She threw on a cheap smile as she heard footsteps from beyond the entrance, barely covering up her uneasy demeanor. When the door opened, Sango sold the false cheerfulness well as she greeted Kagome.

"Hey, Kagome."

Kagome stood in the doorway, happy to see her new friend, brushing her hair. "Sango! How are you?"

"Oh, I'm fine." Sango held up her hand to wave the question off before reciprocating. However, Kagome simply grabbed it and began to pull her inside.

"Please, come in! Let me get you something to drink." Kagome said, as she pulled out a chair from the table for Sango before setting her hairbrush down. Kagome walked with a noticeable bounce in her step as she gleefully poured some lemonade for Sango and herself, and then offered the Sango a cup as she sat down across the table.

Sango gratefully accepted. "You seem perky today. What's gotten into you?"

Kagome was immediately excited about the question, already prepared to spill her guts over what had put her into such a great mood. "Sango, I had the most amazing day ever!" And then the giddy, chocolate-eyed, girl went on to tell Sango all about the wonderful things that had transpired between her and Inuyasha in detail with all the enthusiasm of a kitty on cocaine, all the while making Sango's face darken further and further. "…and we – hey, Sango, are you okay? You don't look so good."

Sango set her drink on the table, not even bothering to taste the sugary drink; the lemonade would cause her to sugar-coat her next few sentences and would have to be bitter and blunt. "Kagome, listen, there's something I have to tell you…"

A moment after Sango's tale, Kagome seemed perfectly fine. She let out a small "oh" and gave a very deep and deliberate nod of the head.

Twenty minutes later, Sango was still trying to consol her friend who had proceeded to sob perpetually. Kagome's petite frame convulsed uncontrollably as her blubbering continued; her head shook in her arms that were folded across the table, unable to handle what she had been told. She screamed obscenities at into the table and at the walls when she could bear to raise her head, the tears weighing down on her face, and threw her glass across the room, hearing it shatter in another area. Her stomach twisted around her heart, choking all of the gleeful emotions Kagome had been feeling to death giving her an absurd amount of rage and disgust; disgust for the world, disgust for life, and disgust for herself.

_So what did Sango say to Kagome?_

…_Have you ever played the game "Telephone"? It's actually a historically remarkable game. It has a different name in many different cultures and geographic regions, but the premise always remains the same. One person shares an amount of information with one other person. The other person then tells a different person, and the cycle continues until the information reaches an intended person. The trick is that, somewhere along the lines, the message becomes twisted and does not always represent what was initially said. In fact, Allied soldiers in World War one used this game to send important messages down the trench lines which stretched over a mile long._

_So when one applies to how messages often become perverted during a game of "Telephone", to how certain information passes between people in the real world, one can see why the parallel is so important. For instance say that whatever Sango, who didn't actually witness an incident, told Kagome was originally told to Sango by another girl, who also didn't witness anything…who was told by someone else who witnessed nothing by their friend whom the incident happened to. Confusing right? Suffice it to say that Sango didn't actually see what happened but was told by the third person in on the list of people who were told…well, that's still rather confusing._

_In any case, just as the "who told who" becomes confusing, so too does the inherent message. So, after passing through many channels, even the most direct message of, "Hey that silver-haired Inu-hanyou is fucking crazy" turns into something…rather obscene._

Regardless, the pain in Kagome's heart was real and Inuyasha's late arrival began to make sense in her mind. She had tried to attribute his delayed arrival to something work related, to something outside of his control. She didn't know everything he had to do at his job – it was plausible that he worked late nights. And it was also possible that there was _another_ silver-haired hanyou with dog-ears that carried a katana around, somewhere in Tokyo…but probably not.

Since running into him again, Kagome had been convinced that he was really a decent guy, but now she understood the truth: Inuyasha was just a jackass who liked to screw around. All of the nasty thoughts she had about their relationship had been confirmed…and Kagome was Pissed.

"I can't believe him!" Kagome screeched before more sobs exploded out of her while Sango attempted to calm her down.

The two girls stayed together for the rest of the day, talking through the pain, and convincing Kagome of the correct course of action. They made snide jokes to pass the time, and talked about other stuff in the world, taking great care not to bring up anything involving Inuyasha; as far as Sango was – and Kagome should have been – concerned, he was in the past. There was no need to make discuss or make cruel jokes about the past (Sango tried at one point but Kagome wouldn't hear of it). They had a semi-pleasant evening and then went off to prepare for "work."

* * *

Inuyasha fidgeted against the seat cushions, flexing his claws as visibly kept his anger in check, considering whether or not he really wanted to kill Miroku. Ahead of him, his two "friends" were hysterical to the point of banging on the dashboard as their laughs bounced off the closed glassed windows and suffocated the poor hanyou in the back. He felt his eye twitch as their laughter rose, growing more fervent as the joke was repeated for the umpteenth time in the past six minutes, his growing desire to strangle the street cop about to overtake his control.

"Fleas! _Fleas_!" Miroku screeched, another round of laughter starting from the front of the car, as he repeated the pun of his previous joke.

Night had once again crept upon Tokyo, replacing the lucid and brightening sun with the hazy and flickering presence of neon. The tumultuous clouds from the day had stuck around, cloaking the moon in an opaque veil, giving an eerie incandescent glow to the sky. The tears of the sky had long since pass, but the residue was visible across the Earth; the sky almost appeared to have more to dispel yet their tear ducts had long since gone dry. The street lights, too, had gone out leaving the flickering neon sign of their target in the view a couple blocks away. Outside, the world seemed still and at ease, but apprehension surrounded everyone inside the car; the reality of the situation was beginning to settle in, and even the human officer could feel the uncertainties in their plan of action.

In an effort to relax the tension, Tetsuya turned to his favorite pass-time of talking about Inuyasha. This time, he decided to focus on how strange Inuyasha had been acting as of late, and he commented with great emphasis on how sweet he and Kagome seemed together. Well, Miroku, who was not entirely aware of Inuyasha's last few encounters with the girl (he truly thought Inuyasha had scared her away after the first date), decided it was best to ask rather intimate personal questions about their relationship against the verbal protest of his good friend. Eventually, with Inuyasha being Inuyasha and all, the mutt let a certain _something _slip and Miroku, being himself and all, made quite the number of jokes about it. Inuyasha was not happy about the most recent one.

"Will you two shut the _fuck_ up?" Inuyasha hollered from the backseat, catching the laughing idiots off guard.

"Lighten up, Inuyasha." Miroku said politely, waving a hand to visualize his noble intentions. "I was only teasing you. I think it's good that you've found a play thing for the season."

Inuyasha scoffed and flung himself into the back, crossing his arms against his chest, his amber eyes directed to the right and at the ground. "Stop it, Miroku. It's not like that."

How could it be like that? He would never take advantage of Kagome like that; he couldn't. She had always been a sweet girl to be around: almost constantly smiling, had a bubbly personality, and she was always nice to him. Even when he was a complete jerk. Hell, he'd been a complete jerk to her for almost two years straight…yet one day she randomly shows up and she's still as kind and thoughtful to him as ever, if one forgets about that awful ordeal he went through at first. Though, Inuyasha did rightfully deserve it; he _had _called Kagome by the wrong name and he _had_ forgotten what her name was – but in his defense, it was only for a moment.

Inuyasha took in a deep breath and then exhaled. Yes, he and Kagome had become _quite_ intimate in the last couple of days, and yes, there was no doubt that the intimacy had quelled some of his seasonal desires. But there was more to it than that; more than a simple exchange of company for mutual benefice. Inuyasha was feeling…something…for her, whatever it may have been; feeling some sort of connection that he couldn't explain, and every day, the need to relish in that connection grew further and further. When he had to separate further from her, he noticed that he became more irritable, spastic in his own thoughts, and would look at the clock three times as often as he waited for work to let out. It took Inuyasha ages to leave Kagome earlier that morning, finding small reasons to be late for work just so that he could spend time with her; simply being near her felt so…right.

"Anyway," Inuyasha began, exiting the car with his comrades. "You sure you know the plan, lecher?"

"Positive." Miroku said plainly, opening the trunk of Tetsuya's car and removing a large rectangular plastic case.

Agent Tadashi quirked his eyebrow, unconvinced with the response. "Uh-huh. Think you'll be able to hit the broad side of a barn with that gun of yours?"

Miroku scoffed, his hand making to his way to his heart in sincere hurt. He tapped the case with his free hand. "Inuyasha, _please_. This is a _rifle_. A gun is what your daddy uses to go hunting."

"Feh."

With that, Agents Tadashi and Kuzuki walked down the street to the club, leaving Miroku to get into his position. The two hanyous had found a particularly advantageous perch for the street cop to position himself, one with a direct line of sight into of a window on the front of the target building. True, the vantage point only displayed a small portion of the interior complex but it was the _only_ decent support option available. At the very least, Miroku would be able to watch the main door and part of either alleyway on the sides of the building. Once he arrived at his spot, Miroku casually opened his case and, delicately and methodically, began constructing his weapon – a simple GOL Magnum, a favorite of law enforcement agencies worldwide. It was of German make, and the Germans always did make good stuff. Once he adjusted the bipod of his rifle and calibrated the lens on his scope, Miroku gave a wave to his teammates who had already arrived at the door to **The Neko-Niche** signaling that he was ready to go.

The two hanyous looked at each other for a moment, before Tetsuya took a deep breath and looked to the sky, whispering an inaudible prayer. His head shot down to look at his partner with a grin, a demonstration of his cockiness.

"Showtime."

Entering the club felt remarkably different this time around (partially because the bouncer wasn't stupid enough to try and take Inuyasha's katana this time around), the general uneasiness that came from experiencing a new environment having subsided. Of course, there was an even greater chance that the two of them would turn around in a minute only to receive a bullet in the brain; the most dangerous time in any operation is when everything is coming together. Aside from that detail however, Inuyasha was feeling pretty good about the day as he sat down in an empty booth across from Tetsuya; he was finally going to have a chance to fuck up Dimitri.

Things seemed livelier that night, as the new age music pulsed around the room in tandem with the flickering of show lights. The tricks and illusions that had attempted to hinder them before had vanished as they arrived, leaving the smell of alcohol and sweat for their noses, and the rather inappropriate "courting" that was taking place just about everywhere. Women galloped around like lap-dogs dressed in tacky outfits, eager to please their new masters; men whipped their heads from left to right like kids in a candy store, ogling every woman in sight, drooling over the venom-laced siren songs of their sweets. Inuyasha watched as one human tried to confess his love for one of the youkai whores who promised hers in return for some quantity of money. Inuyasha chuckled when the man accepted. _'Some men are hopeless.'_

Tetsuya reached under the table, grabbing for something on the underside. Once he found it, he tossed the first thing into Inuyasha lap and tucked the second into his waist. "Miroku was kind enough to get a package drop in here earlier today. The Grach is for me, the Berretta is for you. Remember to turn the safety off."

Inuyasha tucked the firearm into his concealed holster and raised his eyebrow at his partner. "How did Miroku manage to get in here during the day?" Tetsuya's mouth contorted into a sick smile, giving Inuyasha all of the information he needed. "Screw it. I don't even want to know."

Tetsuya drummed his fingers on the table, anxiously looking around to see if a waitress was actually going to come up to them tonight. He wanted a drink damn it. To his surprise, only a couple girls looked their way, and when they did, they immediately turned to look at something else. "Nice work, mutt. I think your episode last night scared all of the girls away."

"Ain't my fault." Inuyasha said casually as he tilted his head back. "I told her no."

"Yeah, what was up with that anyway?" Tetsuya asked, genuinely curious. "She was slobbering all over you. Why would you turn that down?"

Inuyasha's head snapped to Tetsuya's direction, an intense glare aimed to take off the Fushichou-hanyou's head. "Lay off. What's it to ya' anyway?"

Tetsuya shrugged off the glare, determined to get a straight answer out of his partner. "Is that _girl_ really worth that much to you?" He was baiting the old dog, Inuyasha even knew it. But he wanted to see just how upset the mutt would get if he talked poorly about Inuyasha's new interest.

"Why is it whenever we walk into a bar, you always want to have some deep conversation and stuff?" Inuyasha replied, seeing through the ruse. Reading a partner's actions goes both ways; Inuyasha was getting better at understanding Tetsuya's behavior every day, but it still didn't make putting up with them any easier. He leaned his head back again, staring at the ceiling. "And if you want a drink that bad, get off your ass and get one."

"But that defeats the purpose of having a waitress." Tetsuya said innocently.

"Whatever." The word came out simple, pure disinterest decorating its meaning. Inuyasha didn't want to think about anything about his job right now. Everything that he _actually_ cared about would have to be put on the back-burner for a few hours: his hobbies, his wishes, his Kagome – everything needed to be put on hold. The only thing that he could afford to care about was arresting Dimitri. How in the world Tetsuya managed to get an international warrant despite the shaky relations between Russia and Japan, Inuyasha did not know. Then again, he didn't really care about either. So long as he got to put his boot in Dimitri's face and kick his ass good for all the shit he'd caused in Tokyo, Inuyasha would be content.

Tilting his head back again, Inuyasha took a deep breath – a breath to calm himself from the unknown thoughts that were traveling through his head; a gentle influx of air that would settle his varying nerves against the bass that was pounding into his ears. It was surprising to him how often he could find himself relaxing just by taking the time to dissect the strange mixture of smells in any one place, as there was always an interesting combination. Originally he could only smell perspiration and alcohol, but there was so much more now as he breathed the air in deeper: the various cocktail ingredients – fruits, cognac, sugar, dairy – at the bar, the pungent fragrances of the women who worked the place, cigarette smoke floating into his nostrils in delicate plumes, Kagome…

'_Wait, Kagome?'_

Inuyasha moved his head from left to right, desperately trying to find where Kagome's scent could have come from. He sniffed the air, jolting his eyes to the directions he thought the scent might be, only to be greeted by another series of booths and fluctuating lights. He tried again, only to find himself looking towards the bar and at the bartender who merely quirked an eyebrow at him. Finally, he directed his attention down the aisle. As soon as he did, Inuyasha felt all of the blood drain from his face and threaten to replace itself in his eyes, his mouth falling slightly agape at the sight before him.

"What's got your ears in a twist, dog-boy?" Tetsuya asked with a blink. He turned around, only for a moment, then instantly turned back clasping his hands together and placing them on the table. His lips transformed into a nervous frown, worried about what might have happened to him had he looked down the aisle for a moment longer. Inuyasha's low warning growl had come in quite clearly. There are certain things in youkai culture that you simply don't do if you value your life…

A waitress was finally walking their way, wearing a rather revealing pink latex top and matching black micro skirt that left nothing to the imagination. Every other man she passed turned his head to her, a few reaching out in an attempt to grope the poor girl, clucking their tongues as devious and perverted thoughts spread between them like a wildfire. Despite the pigs around her, she remained focused on their table; staring blankly at the two hanyous who had occupied the booth. Every step towards them felt like another jab into Inuyasha's stomach as he tried to make sense of the entire situation, urgently trying to get a grasp on his vicious instincts that threatened to overcome him.

Their waitress arrived at the table and put her hand down to support herself as she cocked her hips away from the Inu-hanyou. A small and barely noticeable smile spread across her face as she snuck a peak at Inuyasha's confused expression, darkly amused at his bewilderment. She looked directly at Tetsuya. "Can I get you anything?"

Inuyasha looked at her, taken aback by how she callously ignored his presence. He could hardly believe what his eyes were showing him to begin with, and he honestly didn't understand what the _fuck_ was going on. He needed to talk to her, to find how what the hell she was doing here, to try and understand.

He reached a clawed hand to her, grazing her forearm. "Kagome."

Kagome cringed angrily at the sound of his voice, jerking her arm away as if she had just touched a hot stove and draping it across her shoulder. She shot him a cold glance, eyes devoid of any care for his presence, informing him to leave her alone. She turned her attention back to the other hanyou, placing both hands on the table and leaning into him slighty as she continued with her questions. "Anything at all?"

Tetsuya, who had taken great pains to stare _only_ into Kagome's eyes, took a glance at his partner. Inuyasha was sending death glares his way, daring him to look into Kagome's cleavage so that Inuyasha would have a reason to tear him limb from limb. Tetsuya waved his hands frantically about. "Oh, me! Just a tomagozake – if you wouldn't mind – please!"

Kagome released herself from the table and began to walk away. As she did however, she turned and gave Inuyasha a final hard look, staring deeply into her eyes. Her hurt, her anger, and her disappointment all reflected in his eyes – each of them wondering what the hell was wrong with the other. A scowl began to form on her lips as Inuyasha mouthed her name, silently trying to call her back to him. She wouldn't; she refused to talk to him at the moment, thinking that, deep down, she really didn't mean a damn to him.

Kagome turned back around and walked away, leaving Inuyasha and Tetsuya a moment to discuss what the hell had just happened.

* * *

Kagome turned back from the bar with Tetsuya's "sake-nog" in tow, not wanting to return to the two hanyous. She had seen the look Inuyasha had given her, his eyes glowing with so many conflicting emotions: anger, desire, hurt, intrigue, sympathy, confusion; what struck her most was how his countenance had dropped more when she had ignored him, compared to when he had first saw her strutting down the aisle. _'He knows why I'm ignoring him.'_ Kagome thought angrily. _'And I don't care if he gets upset or not.'_ Kagome's heart threatened to give out at the last thought. She was lying to herself. She gave a damn about him still, despite what he had done, and she would have to talk to him about it…eventually.

She let out a sigh, about to take a step forward, when a hand suddenly materialized on her shoulder and held her back. She glanced behind herself and saw Yura, a waitress she worked with, holding onto her. "Yura? What is it?"

"You're not the one waiting on that dog-thing over there, are you?" Yura asked, clearly concerned with what the answer would be.

Kagome mulled over the question for a moment, wondering why Yura would even care. She wasn't the one that screwed her boyfriend…at least, Kagome didn't think so – n-not that her and Inuyasha were still an item after that…were they?

"Yeah. So?"

Yura tensed up, turning Kagome around so she could put an index finger in front of her, garnering Kagome's full attention. "_So_? So that guy is crazy! He nearly bit off Ayame's head when she went near him last night!"

Kagome let the words sink in before taking in a deep breath –a very deep breath – as she tried to comprehend what she was hearing. Her face went blank as she tried to think of words, managing out only a delayed, "…What?"

"Yeah, she touched him and he went ape-shit. Scared her off and the rest of us would be damned to go near him." Yura stated as she released her hold on the girl, satisfied with the reaction. "I think he's got a mate or somethin' like that. Anyway, good luck girl."

Kagome's muscles became somewhat spastic. Her fingers were struggling to maintain a solid grip on the cylindrical glass in her hand, the corners of her lips shook up and down rapidly, and her left eyelid was twitching non-stop as she watched Yura prance off, blissfully unaware of the impact of her words. Within twelve hours, she had heard two conflicting stories about Inuyasha's behavior last night and, with the most recent story told, one was beginning to seem more plausible than the other. After all, Kagome would be much more inclined to believe that Inuyasha had anger issues with strangers as opposed to him being cuddly with…well, anyone – save a couple exceptions.

Kagome groaned as she smacked herself in the face. "Ugh, great. He must be so thrilled with me right now." She looked down to check her appearance and shifted uncomfortably at the sight. She had specifically chosen this outfit after he walked in, trying to rub it in his face, silently telling him, 'look at what you just lost, idiot.' Kagome hadn't expected Sango to be wrong.

'_I didn't even tell him I worked here…'_ Kagome thought, biting her bottom lip at that nugget of information. She also knew that there were much more scandalous things happening than stripping and waitressing. _'I wonder if he thinks that I – oh no. I need to talk to him. I can still fix this.'_

She darted down the aisle, her feet moving much quicker than before, sparks of determination skidding past her as she walked. She could see her hanyou talking lividly with his companion, his arms bashing the table, but she couldn't hear him over the orchestration of noises around her. Inuyasha's eyes glided to her for a moment and she felt herself beginning to smile at him, inaudibly asking for his attention, before he quickly turned away from her. Kagome almost forgot about all of the random hands that kept reaching for her backside, until one particularly adventurous arm yanked her by the waist causing her to fall into someone's lap.

"Well, hello there."

The voice was familiar, shrilly so. Kagome flinched slightly at who she thought it was, doing her best not to squirm or give him _any_ reason to think she was enjoying herself. She swatted at the hand encircling her waist as it tried miserably to squirm its way across her belly and down to where it surely did _not_ belong. Her face turned cold and malevolent as she turned to face her oppressor, noting that he was the only person there. It was the same guy who had tried to grope her before.

"Let go of me, you jerk." Kagome spat out as if the words were poison. "I don't have time to deal with you right now. I-"

She was cut off by the feeling of cold steel against her bare hips and a very quiet click that she managed to hear despite everything else going on around her. She didn't need to look to know what was against her. She had an inkling that, whatever it was, it could probably kill her.

"I was so disappointed when you refused me the other day." Her assailant said with a gleam in his eye. The kind of gleam that lets a person know you're psychotic. He pushed the muzzle further into her skin and dragged his tongue from the base of her neck to her ear, snickering as Kagome winced. "Why don't we go somewhere and 'talk' about it?"

The man stood-up with his soon-to-be victim, standing directly behind her with the weapon rested in the small of her back, concealing it from view. Kagome snuck a glance at Inuyasha, hoping he would see the worry in her eyes, and do something – like come to her rescue or some other heroic thing. She almost cried when she saw he wasn't paying any attention to her.

'_Inuyasha…'_

* * *

"Inuyasha," Tetsuya was getting irritated with his partner's protests. He felt for the poor dog, he truly did, but Inuyasha could wait for a few hours. "You have to listen to reason on this one, old boy."

"Fuck you!" Inuyasha shot back, banging a fist on the table. His fangs were poking out as his lips twittered, trying to keep his rage in check. "I'm going over there to find out what the hell is going on here!"

Stretching his back against the support of the booth, arching his back to create a pocket of cool air, Tetsuya let out a small groan as he listened to Inuyasha repeat his intentions. The Inu-hanyou was too stubborn for his own damn good, going so far as to refuse any argument even one with sound logical basing. Well, to be fair, Inuyasha did that all of the time; why should now be any different? "Maybe you should let everything calm down for a few minutes before rushing in. Wouldn't want you to say anything stupid, eh?"

He waited for a few moments for Inuyasha to respond. Instead, he only heard the dulcet sound of nails on a chalkboard as a pair of claws began scratching through the table. Turning his head back to his partner, Tetsuya saw as Inuyasha's eyes turned blood red, glaring menacingly down the aisle, and his fangs began to protrude slightly further than normal and there was this rather elaborate hissing sound that was vibrating out of his throat. Well, maybe not a hiss but somewhere between that and an insidious growl.

Tetsuya took a glance behind his shoulder in time to see some creepy guy standing behind Kagome as they walked off, making a b-line for that decrepit hallway. Considering Miroku had quite the bit of "fun" when he went down there, Inuyasha had reason to be concerned. Tetsuya was willing to bet that, since he didn't, Inuyasha hadn't missed the sliver of chrome between beauty and the beast. "Nevermind, I was wrong. Go for it."

Quick as a flash, Inuyasha bounded off towards the hallway that the couple had disappeared down. Tetsuya sat in his seat, patiently waiting for the hanyou to return…or the miko. She, after all, was supposed to be getting him a "sake-nog". After the thirtieth minute rolled by, Tetsuya's eyelids dropped as he came to an important conclusion: Kagome's absence meant that he wouldn't be getting his tomagozake.

He got up from the booth and strolled down to the bar area, as he bopped his head in sync with the off-beat of the music, giving the bartender a courtly smile before plopping himself down in a stool. His eyes glazed over at the sight of liquor and brandy filled cabinets, all of the endless cocktails that he could choose from weighing down on his decision. His mouth went agape as the girl in front of him expertly mixed some concoction of egg, sake and sugar together and then placed it next to him.

"Here," She said sweetly, continuing her business. "I think this is what you were waiting for."

Tetsuya gave her a grateful look, ready to leap over the counter and hug her for being so inquisitive (ignoring how the gesture meant that she had been watching him like some creepy stalker). He picked up the glass and swirled the mixture around, admiring the texture and its gentle jiggle against the finely crafted glass. He had always loved drinking cocktails; it wasn't as if he was an alcoholic or anything like that. It just made him feel older and younger at the same time. Besides, one drink never killed anyone important.

"Oh! Very kind of you." Tetsuya remarked, taking a sip of his "sake-nog".

He drank slowly, delighting in the sugary taste, becoming lost in the intricate flavor plaguing his tongue. He was so busy drinking his nog that he didn't notice as the bartender's face turned from incredibly compassionately sweet to sick with fear; he hadn't noticed how remarkably silent the patrons had become underneath the blare of the stereos; he hadn't bothered to check his phone for a message or call.

_*Click*_

He did hear that sound. He knew what it was. And it was close. He knew it was close because he could feel the steel muzzle sitting against the back of his head.

Tetsuya's eyes closed as a thousand and one thoughts jittered through the synapses of his neurons, eliciting memories that he believed had long since eroded away. He had heard the hammer on the back of the handgun click into place. It was a "REX" – a Russian throwback to the old 'six-shooter' design. He knew this because the REX has a certain kind of twang to it when it's ready to take a person's life, when it's ready to put a bullet into someone's skull. He had heard that twang before, that gentle dissonant chord of winding gears.

He heard a small chuckle from behind him, a very shallow and dark bit of laughter, as the barrel was pressed a little harder into his head. After the laugh came a light, "Hanako is going to miss you, Kuzuki."

Tetsuya let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding in as another thought crossed his mind. A simple and very deliberate thought that, to be honest, would have made very little sense to those who knew him and could see inside his head.

'…_Well, fuck.'_

_*Bang*_

* * *

End-Notes: Sigh…I felt sad when I wrote this chapter. Although, the story is finally coming to a close so I suppose that's something to be thankful for. Questions? Comments? Feel free to sign off in the review section, or feel free to inform me about all of the horrible crimes against Fanfiction I've committed!


	20. Prelude to a Prologue

A/N: I can't believe this story is about to end. So sad. Anyway, I'm feeling okay with this chapter so might as well post it. I'd normally rant and rave but, with so few chapter left, why bother? As for reviews: _**koko**_ - Age is nothing but a number; life experience is what counts. _**LoVe**_ - I actually learned about Telephone in my writing class last semester! **_kint0_** - *Gasps* Yes, yes, yes! _**cutebaby**_ - thanks for the compliment, though I have to say that my writing style tends to downplay the serious moments with a bit of unwanted sarcasm. Just my personality I guess! Looking for a great piece of fiction to read? Check out _any_ of **Kuronohime**'s archive; stuff is a blast to read! Alright, time to post. For all who still read, Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 19 – Prelude to a Prologue

Scandalous Investigations

* * *

_'How dare he.'_ The thought kept circling through his mind as he advanced towards the mouth of the hallway, stalking his prey. _'How fucking dare he.'_

Time had slowed down for Inuyasha the moment he had seen Kagome with that disgusting son of a whore; the seconds extended into days and the moments became months, every maneuver he made had to travel through molasses, whittling every muscle in his body to perform at a gun-wrenching pace. His mind, however, was still very much a buzz and working as he watched the two figures quickly pass behind the corner, unobstructed by the deceleration of time around them. In the unbearably long time he spent working his way towards the two of the, struggling against the thick air, his demonic nature delighted in all of the ways he could murder that poor bastard; should Inuyasha sever his head and then his balls or the other way around, or should Inuyasha cut off the man's dick, shove it down his throat and then rip out his intestines and hang him from the roof? So many possibilities…

He hadn't waited for his partner to finish speaking before moving off to Kagome, mostly because he wasn't listening to whatever the hell Kuzuki had been saying. Inuyasha had been planning to confront Kagome the instant he had caught her scent. He needed answers. As soon as demonly possible.

The lighting was different in the hallway, void of flashing lamination, sporting only a few incandescent lighting fixtures. His crimson eyes flashed from left to right, eyeing each door for some minor disturbance, ignoring the various grunts and groans coming from people he did not need to care about. Inuyasha stalked down the hallway, moving as silently as possible, stopping only once to look at the katana at his waist. It waned and wailed to against his demon blood, trying feverishly to tame him.

"Shut up," Inuyasha commanded, his voice raspy and coarse. Tetsusaiga strangely acknowledged, submitting to its master in understanding, returning to its state of passivity.

Inuyasha heard the sound of a bed creaking in a room that had once been silent, his ears perked at the sound and he instinctively cracked his knuckles as he waited for another confirmation. Making his way over to the door, the Inu-hanyou bent down in the doorframe as he positioned his ears against the wooden door. From inside, a bit of shuffling could be heard and the very annoying laugh of some lunatic. What Inuyasha heard next sent him over the edge, turning the red blood pumping through his veins into black sludge that nearly sank his heart. It was a plea so feint that no mere human could have possibly heard it.

"Please don't do this," Kagome whispered silently from inside the room, her tone devoid of any hope.

Inuyasha was Pissed.

He took a step back and then charged forward, forcibly opening the door and sending it sailing along its hinges, eyes scanning around the room. They flickered around and about, taking in every last detail of the surrounding as he searched for anything that could be problematic; they flickered over his Kagome (yes, still _his_), inspecting for any sorts of injuries that he could inflict ten-fold onto someone else. Their eyes locked for but a moment – he half expected her to be terrified of him, to see her face drop as she noticed his beastly nature – and her countenance perked up, if only slightly given the current situation.

Inuyasha gripped the man's throat and slammed him against the wall, his claws digging into the sheetrock to hold the bastard in place. The sound of someone being strangled is sickening to most people, but Inuyasha really didn't mind it at the moment. It had such a nice melody; the rapid increase of heart-rate that resonated through the slowing blood, the gentle crush and crack as more and more pressure was put on the larynx, and the helpless wheezes of the victim as he tried to pry the hands off of his neck. The look of sheer terror in those eyes was priceless; they elicited a rather sinister snicker from the Inu-hanyou.

"Your move." The words slithered out of Inuyasha's mouth, taunting the oppressor as he slowly squeezed the life out of him. The man's hand moved, raising his firearm to the half-demon. In response, Inuyasha removed the gun and broke his hand, chuckling as the man silently cried out in pain, unable to get any much needed oxygen into his lungs.

"Inuyasha."

The enraged Inu-hanyou turned his head around to look at Kagome, begging for him to stop with her pleading eyes. Why the hell would she want him to let this man go? Why would she show any amount of compassion to this wretched scum of the Earth? Inuyasha let a scowl form across his face before turning back to his prey. He tightened his grip on the man, fiercely growling with his fangs bared, before releasing him, ignoring his gasps for air as he kicked the bastard once in the gut for good measure.

"Don't ever come back here." Inuyasha said, eyes still glued to the wall, glaring down the outline of the shaken man.

Inuyasha kept his front to the wall as the man left, his breathing jagged as if chunks of glass traveled in the air – his anger over letting the man go counteracting the Tetsusaiga's renewed vigor and resolve. He could feel the haze in eyes dissipating, the settling of his level of Pissed beneath other emotions. Oh, there were so many emotions making their presence known as he regained a better control over himself; so many emotions that began pricking his insides and invading his mind to make their presence known. The angry thoughts that had permeated his senses turned cold and bitter, mutating into hurt – the kind of hurt that comes from wondering about the unknown and thinking about the worst scenarios. His shoulders slumped as some important facts clocked him upside the head once more, the current situation weighing down on him.

Kagome didn't take her gaze from him once he busted through the door. She had been so…shocked? Relieved? He obviously still cared enough to keep her from becoming some guy's plaything, despite how much of a bitch she had been earlier. That had to count for something, right?

She shifted uncomfortably on the bed, watching as Inuyasha's chest heaved up and down with every breath he took. When Kagome saw that look in his eyes, the surfacing blood-lust, she knew what his intentions were and a small part of her actually agreed with them; she wanted to see her would-be assailant struggle in pain, if only for a moment. She didn't want Inuyasha to actually _kill_ anybody – Kagome wasn't that cruel. She stood up and adjusted what she could of her clothing, looking towards the hanyou with slight happiness.

"Inu-"

He spun around at her voice, staring her square in the eyes, with a face full of painful misunderstanding. For a moment, Kagome thought she could read his mind and every dirty little assumption he was making caused her to flinch involuntarily. His lips were twitched as he attempted to stifle his hot energy that threatened to erupt with his next statement.

"So, when did you plan on telling me about all of this?" Inuyasha barked out, his voice laced with bitterness.

Kagome lowered her head slightly but took a step toward him despite his vicious gaze. "I was going to tell you…eventually."

"No, I want to know _when_ you planned on telling me!" Inuyasha half-shouted back, slamming one of his fists against a wall, as the anger and betrayal he was feeling began to poison his words. "_When_, huh, Kagome? After you _screwed_ someone else?"

Kagome looked up at him in shock, understanding what he was implying. Her hand shot to her chest, trying to shield her heart from his venomous words. She could understand how he must be feeling after discovering only a small fraction of the truth with nothing else to go on…but being labeled a whore by your boyfriend still hurt like a motherfucker. Regardless, she took another step toward him and spiced her voice with some confidence. "Inuyasha, I'm not a-"

Inuyasha cut her off with a grunt and a flick of his ears before giving her a extraordinarily cold look, devoid of any care for her feelings, as he said something remarkably…stupid.

"You're just like Kik-"

Before the Inu-hanyou knew what transpired, he was shoved against the wall with a burning sensation tingling around his chest. The heat around his chest mirrored the emotional unrest he had been feeling, almost as if it was literally feeding off of his previous anger. Looking down, Inuyasha saw two small hands tightly gripping his shirt, glimmering with spiritual energy. He traced them to find two arms, shaking with pride and anger, which he followed to face of the girl threatening to his life. Glaring back at him were two brown eyes, half shimmering with tears, with a phenomenal amount of hurt and disgust; two brown eyes that pierced his heart and froze him to the core.

"Don't you _dare_ say that!" Kagome bit out as she slammed him against the wall again and again, her fists glowing brightly as she spoke. "Don't you _ever_ fucking say that!"

Inuyasha was, to be blunt, shocked. In the entire span of time he knew Kagome, she had never once cursed – much less cursed at him – or become so upset that she tried to purify him. He could feel his skin begin to sizzle at her touch as the raw energy she expelled threatened to literally melt his insides. Worse yet, Kagome had a surprisingly vice-like grip and he feared he wouldn't be able to get out of this until she cooked him to a juicy medium-rare.

"Kago-"

"No!" Kagome lashed out as he attempted to call her again, sending another burst of energy into his body. "You shut the hell up, Inuyasha!" She continued glaring at him, trying to claw out his dazed amber eyes with her own menacing stare and possibly phase a hole through the back of his head.

"Your aura-"

"Don't you ever compare me to Kikyo!" Kagome screamed at him. "How could you even _think_ to compare me to her? What is it you think I have in common with _her_, huh?"

Inuyasha didn't say anything to her. He simply looked her up, down and then away. Kagome got the hint.

"So that's it!" Kagome shouted at him as her grip on his shirt tightened. "You think I'm some slut that'll get with any guy off the street! And how did you figure that out Inuyasha? From the guy you just saved me from? Did you know he was trying to _rape_ me, baka?"

Gold flecks peered out from the corner of Inuyasha's eyes. His countenance softened a bit, ashamed at the connection he drew, with a look that clearly said, "I know."

Tears welled up in Kagome's eyes as the pink light from her fists began to fade, her energy slowly being enveloped by her growing sadness with the situation. "I'm not some _whore_, Inuyasha." She had to force the word out of her mouth, as if it were some incredibly unsavory morsel of food. "I-I didn't _want_ to do this." Memories of her past resurfaced as she considered the circumstances that had brought her to **The Neko-Niche**; the accident, her family, her growing need to sustain herself in the world. Tears began to fall freely down Kagome's cheeks as she remembered all of the wonderful things she would never get to do with her family; how her mother would call her at random just to say "Hi" or brighten Kagome's day after a bad exam, how her brother would fight with her and then they'd make up later that day, how her grandfather would press her about her heritage and how special she was to him. She'd never get to hear their voices again, or even be around them again. They had been taken from her.

"You don't know how hard this is to do, you idiot!" She buried his head into Inuyasha's chest and began pounding her hands against him, shouting out 'baka' between her sobs.

Without thinking, Inuyasha wrapped his arms around her waist and laid his head on top of hers, letting her cry and whimper against his chest. He would tighten his grasp as she shook, and then loosen it when she calmed down a bit, silently informing her that he was there for her. Inuyasha whispered her name, which caused her to throw her arms around his neck into a firm hold as she cried more and more. After a time, Inuyasha waddled over to the door (you can't pick a sobbing girl up once they throw their arms around your neck; it just can't fucking be done) and made sure it was closed before waddling back over and setting her down on the bed, climbing in next to her.

As they lay there on the bed, Kagome told him everything. She told him about the crash and what she did afterward; she told him about her job and how she felt about it. She told him everything. After she was done, she snuggled up closer to her hanyou, completely oblivious to the world around them, as he gently caressed her and planted a kiss on the top of her head.

God knows Inuyasha should have just pushed her away when she started bawling. After all, not only had she been remarkably cold to him and neglected to tell him a very disturbing detail of her life, Kagome had been incredibly close to murdering him a moment ago and she still hadn't informed him of the cause of that brash mood-swing; besides, they hadn't been "together" for that long…he could just walk out if he wanted, right?

'_Why shouldn't I just walk out of here right now?'_ Inuyasha thought to himself, as he looked upon the woman using his shirt to dry her tears. She was still clinging to him, hanging on as if he was her last support…and that felt fantastic. He let a small smile curl on his lips as he trailed a finger up and down her side and across her back, softly scratching small circles into her. He was anchored to her. _'Yeah, right. Like I'd just leave her here…or ever.'_

"I'm sorry, Inuyasha," Kagome said, managing to defy physical reality and somehow snuggle in even _closer_ to the hanyou.

"It's fine," He muttered, thinking back to his burnt chest and how she still was still pressing up harder against it. No, he wasn't about to pull her away, even with the pain, but at least she had the common courtesy to apologize for it.

"No it's not. I shouldn't have believed you cheated on me without talking to you first."

"I said it's – wait, hold on. I did _what_?" Inuyasha looked at her disbelievingly as she titled her head up at him with the perfect picture of innocence. So maybe she had forgot to mention that tidbit of information. "Don't give me that cute look! What do you mean I _cheated_ on you?"

Kagome reached out and ruffled his mane, delicately scratching his ears. "I said sorry."

"Feh. So you can apologize for believing somethin' I didn't even do, but not for tryin' to burn me to a crisp?"

"You deserved that!" Kagome shot back, lowering her eyes at him. She giggled when he turned his face away from her, but still leaned into her gentle petting. She enjoyed that little attitude he had – his playful stubbornness that can always be worked over with the precise amount of comfort and negotiating. "I'll make it up to you later, okay?"

"No," Inuyasha commanded as he turned his head to look directly into her eyes. He held his serious composure as a small gasped escaped Kagome's lips as he quickly threw her leg over his waist and bolted them both upright, Kagome straddling him as he locked his arms around her waist. The desire to explore their connection was coming back, and he really didn't want to fight it off; he wanted to be as close to Kagome as physically, hell, even _spiritually_ possible. Fuck his job. Fuck Dimitri. All he wanted to think about, at that very moment, was Kagome. "Now."

Kagome smiled as she leaned into him, feeling the pull between the two of them like a positive and negative valence. They could feel the static electricity building up between them as their lips moved closer and closer together, that feint build-up of energy before the release becoming a tantalizing sensation as they playfully licked each other lips before finally moving in for the kiss.

_*Bang*_

Inuyasha immediately pulled his Kagome to him, covering her body with his own, as he tried to ascertain where the sound came from – and what it was – among the various other shouts that had sprouted outside of the room. Their make-up (out) session would have to wait. He needed to find out where that shot – no, there had been two shots; definitely two – had come from and what was going on outside.

He looked down at Kagome, who was shaking a little from the unexpected noise. "You okay?"

* * *

Around her, people were shuffling and shoving past each other to get the hell out as soon as possible. Glasses were knocked over and shattered on the floor, people were tripping over the most random objects according to her peripherals, and the ambient music was way out of place for what had just gone down.

The barkeep stood there, horrified by the scene that had played out before her. Sure, working at that god-forsaken place, she had seen some pretty sick shit; underage girls begging for work, rowdy gentlemen who became a bit _too_ hormonal, fairly distasteful dances (even by the establishment's standard), and the list goes on. That stated, the bartender had _never_ witnessed a shooting let alone one that had occurred a mere ten feet away. Her mind was screaming at her to run, to mimic the patrons and head for the hills; she could feel tiny needles stabbing her legs, trying to convince her that she needed to move, but her body just wouldn't listen. She was fixated on the site before her, a looming sense of curiosity plaguing her thoughts.

She took small glances at the main area of the complex, noting how empty things had become after only a few moments. Shifting her eyes down, the bartender felt a lump begin to grow and lodge itself in her throat as if a goiter had suddenly materialized in her esophagus, as she took in the sight of blood as it pooled around the still very alive body. How alive was the body? Alive enough to shout out very livid comments in a tongue she couldn't even comprehend. Hell, she knew Mandarin and the language this guy was using still seemed weird. He was clearly enraged though; he was clawing at the ground in agony, clutching the gaping hole in his stomach as he kept shouting in devil tongues.

"Hey," A familiar voice snapped her back to reality. Well, perhaps not a voice she was _acquainted_ with, but it was familiar enough. She turned her head to look at the man, her lump disappearing at the calming smile he gave her. "You should probably get out of here."

No one needed to tell her twice. The bartender turned tail and ran.

Agent Kuzuki let out a small sigh as she scampered off, turning his attention to his back. He looked at his sports coat and his face contorted into a very disgruntled expression. There was smoke emitting from a small hole in the lower right section, black gunpowder sizzling on the pure-white fabric. A small groan escaped his lips as worked his left arm out from under his right hip, moving his service weapon into plain sight. Kuzuki took a glance down the bar counter, content with the fact that he could now see the weapon that had been pointed at his head as it sat casually next to a couple half-filled shot-glasses a few feet away from, coated in alcohol.

'_That was too close,'_ Tetsuya thought as he tilted his head back and brought his glass to his lips. When he tilted his hand to pour some tomagozake into his mouth, he was left with only the bitter taste of his own blood. Opening his hand, he found a small bullet hole from a three-fifty-seven round that had pierced straight through and several glass shards embedded in his skin from when the glass exploded. Kuzuki sighed again at the sight of his mangled hand as it hung there in the air. He had been lucky. Kirilenko had managed to actually get a shot off, something he hadn't anticipated; had Tetsuya been a split-second off, that bullet could have gone through his skull instead of his hand.

The day that gunpowder was mainstreamed to the general public is specifically marked as an international day of mourning in youkai culture. Gunpowder put humans and demons on an equal playing field when it came to killing each other, completely forgoing the traditional ways of species extermination. What use to take four priests and priestesses and a serious amount of chanting could now be accomplished by some punk off the street who had access to daddy's gun cabinet and knew how to load a semi-automatic. Despite common myths, it's just as easy to get rid of a demon by blowing its head off as it is to seal their energy into a tablet or some other nonsense; putting a few slugs into a demon is also much more cost effective. That kind of brutal truth applies to all creatures of the world. It doesn't matter if you're a child, a mother, a businessman, or the spawn of some mythological fire-bird; bullets don't discriminate and getting one in the head _will_ kill you.

Tetsuya picked a few of the larger shards of glass out of his hand with his teeth, and then clenched his hand shut. His jaw tightened as a terrible burning pain erupted from his hand, centering on the gunshot wound. He always hated this part – cauterizing a wound was never exactly fun – hated the feeling of being burned by a hundred cigarettes at once. After a few moments the sensation dwindled away and Tetsuya opened his hand, appraising over the seared flesh that had formed over his wounds. It wasn't pretty, but it would hold him over until the normal healing process began.

Kirilenko was still busy cursing out the Fushichou-hanyou as he clutched at the wound in his stomach, trying to hold back the blood that was dribbling out in sporadic spurts. A whole slew of very nasty comments were made in his Russian tongue. Apparently Kirilenko knew Tetsuya's mother. Intimately. Agent Kuzuki watched his dear "friend" writher in pain for a few moments longer, darkly relishing every instant. He looked down at his coat again and gave a small grunt, dismayed over its current condition.

"You know, Fedir," Tetsuya said as he shrugged off his white coat, ignoring Kirilenko's rather rude comments. "That was my favorite coat."

"Son of a bitch!" Kirlienko cried out as he desperately clawed at the ground, attempting to pull himself away. "Goose-stepping fucker!"

Agent Kuzuki spun around in his chair, looking to the main doors of the establishment as he trained the Grach on the Russian. "I mean, I really liked the coat. Why would you make me fire through my favorite coat?"

Fedir didn't answer him directly, but merely spit in the hanyou's direction as he continued trying to crawl away. In response, Tetsuya scooted off the stool and gave the Russian a quick kick to his crown, knocking him out cold. The incessant whining was becoming a bit too much to handle. Tetsuya could feel vibrations from his clothed pocket and casually took out his phone and answered it.

"What the hell is going on in there?" Miroku shouted through the receiver before the hanyou could greet him.

"Just a bit of a 'snafu', Miroku," Tetsuya remarked cheerfully, scratching his head with the butt of his gun. "How are things with you?"

Miroku scoffed into the line. "Bystanders are scattering everywhere but you've got seven men moving in from across the street. I don't think they're coming to chat."

Inuyasha came in through the hallway, first glancing at the mayhem-riddled room and then to his partner who offered the Inu-hanyou a happy smile as he closed his phone. They exchanged glances, conveying messages to each other that did not need to be said, learned understandings stretching the small gap between them. This wasn't the first time a situation spun crazily out of control and, as such, they were fairly prepared for it. True, the contingency plans were never well thought out and carried some risk of injury or death…but if they were perfect, then they wouldn't be contingency plans.

"Think you'll be able to shoot straight with a busted hand, Kuzuki?" Agent Tadashi asked, making his way over to his partner.

Agent Kuzuki nodded, his blue eyes fixated on the main doors, patiently waiting for the other team to make the next move. It was painfully obvious to see exactly what was going to happen, given the circumstances: Kirilenko was clearly involved, his unconscious body proved it. He was known to be a greedy weasel and, more than likely, was sitting in Dimitri's pocket; being linked into intelligence fields, it would have been a cinch to find out which detectives were going to try and nail Afon'ka that night. He probably spilled the details to Afon'ka for a villa in Moscow. Once Dimitri and Fedir noticed a familiar face, they probably figured they would send Japan a message. What either of them could gain from killing an officer is anybody's guess, but it didn't change a very simple fact: Seven men, more than likely armed, were walking to meet the two hanyous head-on. Things were going to get rough.

Agent Tadashi relinquished the Beretta from his holster, letting his arm dangle at his side, as he waited for whatever was to come. He had heard a chunk of the phone call and knew that things had gone south. On the bright side, this did prove that Dimitri initially had plans in Tokyo and that he was involved in the illegal drug trade; every bit of evidence would help after all. Amber eyes darted left and right, taking in the environment; the array of booths on either side of them would provide sufficient cover and the lighting, while incredibly annoying, could work to their advantage if they played their cards right.

"Inuyasha?" Kagome's voice called out from the hallway as she peered into the area.

The Inu-hanyou snapped his head in her direction, worry plaguing his features. "Baka! I told you to get out of here!"

The young woman stepped out into the area, fear striking her as she saw the scene around her, shuffling behind her hanyou. "W-what happened out-"

There was a small rasp on the main doors, a light and cordial knock that was most unbefitting the escalating apprehension, and the sound of bolts shifting as the doors began to open. The detectives tensed slightly as the first few thugs waltzed in, adorned with compact Kalashnikov rifles. Behind them was a man in his early forties, dressed as though he would be going to a funeral, clearly human and of eastern European descent. He turned his attention to the two half-demons, looking genuinely surprised to see them, and gave them a rather dark smile.

"Why hello, detectives."

Afon'ka – Dimitri: drug-dealer, gangster, douchebag. Name any drug in existence and Afon'ka more than likely sells it; whether it be hallucinogens, chemically altered opiates or pharmaceutical supplies, Dimitri has his hand in the cookie-jar. Raised as part of Russian aristocracy, he quickly discovered that he was a sociopath when he set a neighbor's dog on fire. When the neighbor came to scold him, Dimitri shot him in the kneecap. Daddy was so proud; he shipped Dimitri off to an expensive boarding school. The younger Afon'ka promptly fled and disappeared off the face of the planet for twenty years, gaining prestige in the black market. He popped up on the radar for some petty crimes and eventually spiraled to be one of Scotland Yard's most wanted. He also has Kuzuki's wings mounted on a wall somewhere (I mentioned he's a douchebag, right?).

"It's so nice to see you again, Tetsuya," Dimitri said sincerely as his remaining entourage shuffled in. That was terrifying in and of itself; a man that would shove a coat hanger into his own daughter's womb sounded sincere toward a man he would kill without hesitation. Dimitri lifted a scrawny finger and pointed it at the Inu-hanyou. "You must be Agent Tadashi. It's very nice to meet you." Dimitri turned his eyes toward the scared figure behind the dog demon. "Oh, my. I'm afraid we haven't met yet, have we miss?"

Inuyasha flinched when he was greeted and growled when the bastard motioned towards Kagome; he could detect the implicit hostility in the man's tone. Nevertheless, Agent Tadashi strengthened his countenance and gave the aging man a stalwart glare. "Spare us the small talk, jackass. You're under arrest."

Afon'ka tossed the two hanyous a confused look as he sat down in a chair that rested against the east wall. "You mean you don't want to hear about my brilliant plans first?"

Agent Kuzuki scoffed at this, focusing his attention on the problems ahead; Inuyasha could take care of Kagome. "You're using Vodka bottles to smuggle in an illegal amphetamine and then distributing it through underground channels. It's more cliché than brilliant."

Dimitri ignored the comment, instead picking up a half-empty scotch glass of the table next to him. He swirled the liquid around a couple times before taking a small sniff, then quickly tossed the remaining alcohol down, smacking his lips once he had finished. "Oh. Pity." He stated flatly, turning to his posse, giving a small shrug. "I don't really like spoil-sports. Just kill them."

Tetsuya dove into cover behind the aisles of booths as automatic fire was sprayed their way, while Inuyasha pulled Kagome down into cover with them.

* * *

Common lore is filled with yarns the detail the glory and beauty associated with battles. Poets of the past wrote epics of the wars of ancient Greece, telling of the majesty and grace on the battlefield. Story-tellers have been, for years, praising the beauty and sacrifice of two sides locked in a struggle to the death. Even collections of diaries and letters from past soldiers were almost always transcribed in such a way to give airs to the firefights the soldiers engaged it, giving a much more honorable and courageous view of the bitter tension between the opposing forces. In fact, the young miko had once read of a soldier; she read of some hero who valiantly ran head-first into a battle to save his homeland (_solus in hostes ruit et patriam servavit_ and all that jazz). Those tales made fire-fights seem as though they were more like ballads on a stage, where each character played a small part, contributing to some beautiful and oddly peaceful act.

Those stories are a load of bull.

Kagome screamed in panic as chunks of metal flew over her head and slammed into the walls and furniture near the bar, creating small indentations (and occasionally holes), turning everything into Swiss-cheese. She could hear glass shattering around her from the bottles adorning the bar to the drinks laid out on the tables as the incessant roar of automatic fire continued. _'This is not happening.'_ Kagome thought as the arm around her shoulders pulled her closer to her protector. _'This is all a bad dream. Yeah, that's it! And very soon, I'm going to wake up and everything will be fine. Heck, there'll even be a rainbow outside.' _That thought was quickly pushed aside as a round pummeled through the metal support stock they were taking cover against and nicked Inuyasha in the shoulder.

The pain from that wound could have been worse. After all, the bullet could have shattered his shoulder as opposed to giving it a small cut. Inuyasha barely acknowledged the injury when he lifted the damaged arm in an attempt to blind-fire his weapon. His fingers grasped the trigger and pulled, only to be met with unyielding resistance to his finger's demand; he attempted to pull the trigger again, becoming more irate as the damned weapon refused to give in.

"Damn it!" Inuyasha shouted to no one in particular. "It's jammed!"

Tetsuya fired off a round before quickly slipping back into his own cover a few meters away. He took a fleeting glance at his partner's weapon before responding with, "You never took the safety off, baka!"

'_Nevermind, I'm going to die,'_ Kagome thought as she buried her face against Inuyasha's free shoulder, as the hanyou finally performed a successful blind-fire.

Inuyasha grinned as his ears picked up the sound of soft tissue being ruptured and the angry shout of an injured thug. That brought the odds down to five on two – not very favorable, but better. He squeezed the frightened girl a bit closer, growling as another bullet nearly grazed his cheek; he would do everything in his power to protect her and get her out of there safely. The question was how. Five krinkov rifles were nothing to take chances against, considering they were spraying five by thirty-nine millimeter rounds; if the detectives did anything too brash (see, Inuyasha), they could expect some serious pain. They were going to need a distraction…some kind of shock and awe tactic.

Agent Tadashi hugged Kagome closer, covering her head with his body, as another barrage of bullets blew past them and into the sidings of the bar counter, loud cracks being heard as more of the complex was destroyed. After the hail settled down, Inuyasha peeked up from Kagome's hair noticing a bottle of rum that had landed at his feet, the liquid sloshing back and forth in the glass bottle. He picked up the bottle, curiously examining its contents; it should have broken when it fell off the counter. "Yo, Kuzuki."

The fushichou-hanyou looked over at his partner, mirroring the quizzical expression he had over the bottle. The two stared at it for a moment, then at each other; they stared at Inuyasha's Tetsusaiga, then at the bottle; they stared back at each, and then they grinned.

"Amaya's going to be pissed that we did this," Inuyasha said, tossing the rum to his partner.

Tetsuya caught it and dragged a clawed finger along the neck of the bottle, severing it from shoulder, as a few bullets peppered his cover (one actually passed though his hair). "She needs to lay off the one-fifty-one anyway." This wouldn't be the first time Agents Kuzuki and Tadashi had performed this particular plan, in fact the last time they did, they were almost arrested by the accompanying officers for their stupidity. Well, it didn't help that the plan contained some illegal actions in it.

In theory, the plan was simple: disorient the aggressors and use the five second window to neutralize all hostiles in a non-lethal fashion. The difficulty of the plan, however, becomes compounded as more and more variables are considered: just how many rounds per minute can the opposing force fire, what is the distance to the target, are there any civilians in the hot-box? These kinds of hiccups impacted all of the minute details of both phases of their contingency plan. Phase one involved creating a suitable distraction that would mesmerize their opponents and allow Agent Tadashi to get in close; Phase two was the actual neutralization and disarmament of all hostiles.

Once started, it should only take about five seconds in perfect conditions.

Kagome stared at the two detectives in disbelief over their casual demeanors. Did they not realize that people were trying to _kill_ them? She didn't think it was hard to miss considering people were, in fact, _shooting_ at them! "In case you guys forgot, those men have _guns_. Why do you look so happy?" Kagome shouted out at them as glass shattered on the table next to her.

Inuyasha let out a small chuckle at her outburst, aware of her confusion. He speedily relinquished her from his grasp, and readied himself into position. "I'll explain later. Just stay down for right now, okay?" Kagome nodded at him, slinking as close as possible to the ground, and Inuyasha, in turn, nodded at Kuzuki.

Resting the now open bottle in the palm of his empty hand, Tetsuya dipped a finger from his other hand into the alcohol (his gun cradled between his index finger and thumb) and set the top of the alcohol ablaze; a drawn-back to his mix breed was the necessity of medium (other than air) to combust anything. With the clock already running, Agent Kuzuki spun the bottle up and toward the Russians with enough centripetal force to keep the now burning alcohol from spilling out into the room…at least, not initially. Popping out from his cover, Kuzuki fired a single shot into the spiraling bottle of fire, causing the flaming liquid to erupt into an obscuring screen of burning alcohol.

Inuyasha let out a sigh as he vaulted backwards over the table behind him, taking his partner's gunshot as the cue to begin. He enjoyed close-quarters combat so much more than this 'shoot-em-up' bullshit that he had been forced to endure, as it had such a profound amount of tension release with it; firing a gun dissociates the shooter and the target, but getting in close and knocking someone out was incredibly personal. Inuyasha liked personal. He shifted his weight in the air as he approached the inferno raging through the air, hand gripping the handle of his Tetsusaiga, turning around to face it head on. The timing had to be absolutely perfect…

The look on the Russians' faces as an angry Inu-hanyou sliced through the fiery smokescreen with some supernatural blade? Priceless.

Agent Tadashi landed on one of the stunned men before quickly slamming his fist into another one, swinging the flatter end of his blade into two more behind him. Before the other two gun-men could aim their rifles, Inuyasha had already dispatched them, ramming one into a wall with his shoulder and kicking the other back toward Tetsuya. In a fluid motion, Inuyasha turned and pointed his blade toward Afon'ka who was in the middle of taking a sip of scotch.

Dimitri just sat there and stared at the half-demon with a pouty look on his face, like a kid who was told to wait before he could go swimming. Ironically enough, the sprinkler system in the building activated at the moment, a response to the dramatic increase in temperature. "Well, fuck." He muttered as the Inu-hanyou grinned.

In response, Inuyasha delivered a swift punch to his face.

* * *

"Well that was anti-climactic." Inuyasha announced as he brought out another incapacitated Russian.

Miroku had been kind enough to call for assistance after the shooting started. Red and blue lights flickered around the early-morning darkness, bounding around the gray hue of the city streets. Roadblocks had been set up to keep any passersby from looking in on the scene as officers dragged out several victims of Inuyasha's attacks. The retreating moon was clear as crystal now that the clouds had retreated from view, skipping off to mask the light in some other city around the world; the emerging sun was marred by the numerous buildings of Tokyo, but a few rays of light made themselves apparent.

"Indeed," Tetsuya responded as he walked out behind Inuyasha, his destroyed coat over his shoulder. "I was expecting something a bit more…epic?"

Inuyasha barely acknowledged his partner as he made his way over to Kagome, who was being interviewed by Miroku for god knows what reason. She sat cross-legged, her arms folded across her midsection with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders, on the hood of a patrol car as the perverted street cop asked her a few questions, writing the answers down into a small notepad. Inuyasha wrapped an arm around her waist, resting his cheek on top of her head as he took in her wonderful scent. "Hey."

"Hey," She responded, burying her face into the crook of his neck.

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm…fine?" Kagome's voice questioned as she saw a particularly angry youkai making her way through the police barricades. "Huh, she doesn't look happy." Inuyasha turned to see who she meant and his face immediately fell. He watched as the woman went directly to the fushichou-hanyou, eyes filled with cold and indifferent rage as she pushed through several officers.

Tetsuya turned just in time to see who it was. "Oh, why hello Lieutenant! What brings you do-"

Agent Kuzuki was cut off as the Lieutenant's fist collided with his face, propelling him into the stone walls of the building. She brought her hand back, trying to calm the shaking as her anger threatened to take over her actions, and watched as the detective struggled to his feet with a nervous smile. As he looked her way, Hanako simply stared right through him, indifferent to any pain he might be feeling. "Get your ass back to headquarters. Both of you."

Inuyasha watched as Hanako removed herself from the area, calling out to his partner.

"At least she didn't kick you this time."


	21. Full Circle

A/N: This is it guys. An Epilogue is in consideration but that won't be decided until later and, if it is written, it won't be added for another couple months. As far as I am concerned, Scandalous Investigations _ends_ with this chapter. It's definitely a bitter-sweet moment to complete my first story; I believe, over the course of the next few summers, I will begin heavily revising and fixing this work. While I am, overall, content with it I can't help but be a little disappointed at the shoddy workmanship in this story. Anyway, enough moaning from me. **_LoVe_**- If I could draw that scene, I could die happily._** KoKo**_ - Somethings are better left to the imagination, eh? _**cutebaby**_ - Take your time with it. It's better to work off of passion than boredom. _**k1nto**_ - despite my last message, this is it. My apologies.

* * *

Chapter 20 – Full Circle

Scandalous Investigations

* * *

"…and this is the best one," Lieutenant Amaya announced sarcastically, tossing an open newspaper onto her desk for her two detectives to read. "I think it really captures your fucking stupidity quite nicely."

Agent Tadashi's gaze shifted to the headlines of the paper, silently skimming the bold faced story of the day. It wasn't anything too descriptive, although there was a rather humorous picture of him dragging an unconscious thug by the collar with an angry frown; in fact he remembered when that picture was taken because he had punched the cameraman in the face. In the Inu-hanyou's defense, the photographer was far too close for comfort. Inuyasha had to fight back a chuckle; if he didn't, McBitch would surely have heard him and started shouting again.

The office was eerily quiet as the trio stood there, the subordinates wracking their brains over the paper while the superior turned her attention to the window, sunlight striking through the glass, letting time roll by as the full weight of the past couple weeks began to settle down in that moment – chapters of their lives finally being closed.

The fleeting tranquility of that moment – that realization of completion – was blissful. White, fluffy ears took in the quiet noises around him, the shallow breaths of the Lieutenant as she visibly attempted to keep from strangling the both of them, the low rumbling of automobiles chasing each other outside on the streets below. There was a harmony existing around the world in that moment, a natural acceptance as if everything was exactly as it was supposed to be. Sure, the tension in the room was suffocating and clearly apparent but, it felt necessary – required in a way.

"Look, H-" Tetsuya began, cutting himself off as The Lieutenant gave him a sharp glare. "I mean, Lieutenant, it was my call. I withheld the stand-down from Agent Tadashi. If it wasn't for me, he wouldn't even be in this mess."

"Feh," Inuyasha said, not looking in his partner's direction but instead directly at his superior. "Yeah right. I went because we needed to go and stop those people and I don't give a damn what you say about it, _Lieutenant_."

Lieutenant Amaya looked at the hanyou, her vibrant yellow eyes clashing with his solemn amber ones, her anger spilling over into her countenance, quivering lips pulling back to reveal sharp fangs. Inuyasha remained statuesque however, seemingly unaffected by Amaya's display of her displeasure; he silently challenged her position of Alpha, daring her to do something to show her dominance. With an enraged 'oomph', The Lieutenant slammed her hand down on the wooden desk, smashing through the wooden frame as splinters, hundreds of little wooden shrapnel bits, cascaded into the air around the impact site. Tetsuya sharply in took a bit of air, remaining still as it caught in his throat; as still as Inuyasha was by his sister's show of anger. Slowly, Amaya brought her hand out of the now destroyed desk, letting it fall down to her side, ignoring the small bit of blood strolling down her forearm from the cuts she had given herself.

"You're dismissed, Agent Tadashi."

Inuyasha took a glance at his partner out of concern. If Amaya ever dismissed one of them, then it meant the other was due for a world of hurt; normally her fury would be reserved for both of her idiots but, on occasion, she would toss it all onto one person to keep herself from killing any of her officers. Not that she _had_ killed any of them…recently.

Sensing his apprehension, Kuzuki gave the Inu-hanyou a sad smile, signaling his acceptance of the looming situation, quietly telling him that he would be fine. However, he himself was uncertain how true that was: Hanako was Pissed to a level that he hadn't seen in years. It was quite possible that she would fire him on the fucking spot for his carelessness this time around. He watched as Inuyasha exited through the office door, the blinds that masked the glass view-hole shaking behind him, and turned his attention back to The Lieutenant; his eyes met hers, solemn sea blue meeting pain-quivering yellow.

"Hanako…"

"I can't believe you, Tetsuya," Hanako spat out, her voice bitter. She took a few steps toward him scraping the top of her desk with a clawed finger, a shrill shriek vibrating from the pained desk, as she maneuvered around the wooden object. "What could have _possibly_ possessed you to go and deliberately disobey orders?"

Tetsuya held up a hand at shoulder height, gesturing a plea toward her. If she got within arm's reach, she could hit him. That was the _last_ thing he wanted. "Hold on a second, just hear me out."

"Do you know how much of a crap-fest Major Kaoru is going to get from the international committee about this?" Hanako asked, forcing her face directly in front of her mate's. Her voice was growing louder and strained, as if she was holding something important back. "I _told_ you to wait for JDSF to clear you for an extradition!"

A nervous smile spread across Tetsuya's face while he inched back from the woman. Hanako _may_ have informed him of plans to wait for clearance to hunt down Dimitri in Russia, after he flew the coup in Japan, before Tetsuya left to pick up Inuyasha (using some bogus cover story); the two of them had known Kirilenko's story would be bogus but neither of them had the authority to usurp another nation's federal agent. Ideally, they would have waited for the Major to play ball with the Soviets and convince them to pull Kirilenko's authority while they went on the prowl in the Russian homeland. To be fair, Tetsuya and Inuyasha _might_ have waited until then to grab Dimitri…but after someone puts a gun to your head, it's hard to really care about petty jurisdiction problems. "We didn't have any other choice, love..."

"Bullshit!" Hanako shouted, her voice cracking. She grabbed her mate's black shirt by the front, locking him to place so that he could witness her pained eyes as they glazed over with brewing tears. "You know what could have happened if you guys screwed up; you remember what happened the _last_ time Fedir gave us bad Intel! You could have screwed over the case! You could have let Dimitri get away! You could have…" The neko-youkai trailed off, the coming salt already forcing her to squint her eyes as she watched Tetsuya – her wonderful mate – furrow his brow in confusion before his eyes went wide, mouth going agape at her implications; Kuzuki was now fully aware of what she was getting at, and his crisp blue eyes softened dramatically at her soft whimpering.

Suddenly, Hanako threw herself against him, burying her face into his chest as the fully-formed tears began to etch out of the corner of her eyes. She could feel his arms rush around her waist, pulling her closer to him as she tried to hold back the sobs that were brewing in her chest, bringing her into a comforting embrace. "You could have _died_, you baka!"

With a sigh, Tetsuya buried his face into Hanako's pink hair, tightening his hold as her chest threatened to convulse harder with each gasp of air she took. Even he had to admit, she had _every_ right to be upset with him right now – forget all of the breaches in professional conduct and personal trust. Agent Kuzuki had, intentionally, placed himself into a situation in which he could have easily fallen prey to the same mistakes he had made before; the same mistakes that had almost cost him something worth more than his own life. Of course, as much as he loved her, Hanako was always too stubborn to accept that Tetsuya hadn't really cared about the outcome, so long as the outcome meant staying with her.

The couple remained that way for a few moments, waiting for the tumultuous moment to pass. After some gentle cooing and sweet-nothings, it did.

"So, how much trouble do you think we're in?" Tetsuya asked.

Hanako snorted as she turned her head, resting her ear on his chest. "Let's see: you two broke protocol, shot a Russian agent, nearly lit a building on fire, and took down one of the most wanted men in the past ten years. They'll probably give you both medals."

"I see," Tetsuya said quietly, running a clawed hand down Hanako's back. "How much trouble am _I_ in?"

Hanako smirked at him, pressing her body up against him as she reached over to lock the door to her office. She brought her lips to Tetsuya's ears, her warm and steadied breathing causing the hairs on the back of his neck to stand up. "_So_ much trouble…"

Tetsuya shivered as Hanako tugged him over to her desk by his shirt and threw him on top of it, a goofy smile plastered on his face as she climbed onto him.

Spring was _fucking_ awesome.

* * *

Inuyasha tilted his head in an improvised attempt to work out the kinks in his neck, cringing slightly at the sound of popping joints, as he leisurely strolled back to his desk. It was so early in the morning and he hadn't gotten any sleep. Hanako had made sure that he and Kuzuki _personally_ checked every last bit of evidence into storage and had them interrogating their perpetrators for a good mind-numbing few hours. Originally that had left Kagome and the other girls they had found nearby to be questioned by Miroku, whose department was more than happy to get rid of him for a few days.

As it turns out, women who work as strippers and hookers _really_ don't like to be asked to bear children in their off time. Miroku ended up fleeing into the two hanyous interrogation room, a swarm of angry women behind him with Kagome leading the charge; apparently, despite common sense, Miroku had attempted to grope the poor girl. To make matters worse for himself, Miroku actually admitted that to Inuyasha and Kuzuki. The girls were appeased when Miroku got the snot beat out of him by Inuyasha, for even thinking about touching his Kagome.

When he arrived at his desk, Inuyasha smiled softly at the woman sitting next to it who was now wrapped in a jacket he had left here so long ago. She seemed content considering the circumstances, her legs were crossed over themselves and she hung tightly onto the coat, getting as much comfort as she could out of everything. Kagome smiled back at him when he made his reappearance, setting down a cup of coffee for her to drink; she eagerly took it, ignoring just how scalding hot the porcelain mug was.

"Thank you," Kagome breathed out, bringing the rim of the cup to her lips and inhaling the strong hazelnut smell of her warm beverage.

"Sure." Inuyasha replied, taking a seat behind his desk. He watched as the woman – his woman – took a sip of the coffee, her chocolate orbs glazing over as she looked beyond what could be seen with the physical eye. She remained frozen in time there, dissociated from the world around her, for a few moments before she took another sip and repeated the process. Inuyasha's hand fidgeted against his desk as he struggled to determine what she could possibly be thinking about.

'_Maybe she's still upset with me.'_ The thought caused Inuyasha to lower his ears in disappointment, flattening those fuzzy triangles against his head like a sad puppy. He gave the distant woman a look up and down; it pained him to see her so phased out, as if she were specifically trying to ignore him. _'Does she want me to…apologize to her?' _He did owe her an apology; Kagome had been through quite a bit last night and most of it was his fault. The way he saw it, if he and Kuzuki hadn't even been there that night, Kagome would still have some sort of job (a irritated growl escaped his throat as he retracted the idea of calling stripping a "job") and way of sustaining herself; now she had nothing and it was all thanks to him…

"Kagome?" Inuyasha called, a scarce bit timid.

At the sound of his voice, Kagome immediately perked up; a happy smile protruded her lips as she looked back at her hanyou. "Yes, Inuyasha?"

"I just wanted to say t-that I-I'm…" Inuyasha trailed off, a blush creeping across his face. He had almost never had to apologize before; he wasn't even sure it was something he knew how to do. He _was_ sure that he had never had to apologize to Kagome before, and the proud part of him was having a hard time admitting it was wrong. "It's j-just that I-I'm-"

Kagome cut him off, scooting herself into his lap and moving to rest her head on his shoulder. Her legs were draped over the arm rest of his chair, an unfortunate and uncomfortable consequence of her desire to be so close to him (though she did think it was completely worth it), and her arms crawled around his waist as she pulled herself as close to Inuyasha as possible; he nuzzled her head into the nook of his neck, laying a small kiss on his goose-bump ridden skin.

"Thank you for saving me, Inuyasha…"

The Inu-hanyou let out a deep sigh as he snaked his arms around Kagome. This felt good; it felt so ridiculously _good_. His entire mind was abuzz with only Kagome on his mind: her delicate and beautiful scent in his nose, the feel of her loving caress through his shirt as she drew circles on his back, the sound of her evenly spaced breathing as she relaxed even further into him, and the oh so tantalizing sight of this amazing woman. Now if only he could get his coworkers to stop staring at him so he could taste her…

"I'm sorry," Inuyasha blurted out.

Kagome continued her conservative hand movements on his back and planted another kiss on Inuyasha's neck, smirking when he heard a small sound of satisfaction. "For what?" Kagome asked quietly.

"For getting you, uh, fired." Inuyasha couldn't help but give himself a mental pat on the back for that pun. "If it wasn't for me, you'd still have some place to work."

Kagome pulled back, giving her hanyou an incredulous look and ignoring the not-so-funny pun. "Seriously? _That's_ what you're choosing to apologize for? Stopping me from being a stripper?"

Inuyasha narrowed his eyes at the woman in his lap, trying to read her chocolate orbs. "What are ya' tryin' to say, Kagome?"

"You can't think of _anything_ else you should be apologizing for?" Kagome asked, cocking her eyebrow at Inuyasha. He remained silent, his eyes going wide in realization and his mouth twitched a bit; he almost opened his trap but quickly shut it for fear that he might say something stupid. Kagome saw this. "Uh-huh, that's what I thought."

Inuyasha placed a hand on her side and moved his other one to shift through the papers on his desk, making sure everything was in order. When he saw that it was, he let out a small sigh and quickly moved to place his lips on Kagome's cheek. He pulled away from her and looked into her eyes.

"You might want to go home and get some sleep."

Kagome bit her lip at his suggestion. She understood that he wasn't intentionally trying to get rid of her and that she _could_ use the sleep. "You're probably right."

Inuyasha could feel his face flush as Kagome crawled out of his lap and straightened herself up next to the desk; his hands darted into his pockets, fumbling around for something. A lump formed in his throat as she offered to give him his jacket back, which he refused, and started to walk off toward the elevator. His fingers finally found the object he was searching for; the lump grew in size as his heart began to race. Inuyasha had been considering this since their first night together and right now seemed as good a time as any…

"Hey, wait!"

Kagome stopped herself and turned around to face the voice, watching as Inuyasha nearly tripped over his chair in an attempt to come to her. She giggled as he grew irritated at the metal contraption and gave it a sharp kick, effectively turning it into scrap metal. Once he reached her, a very serious gleam appeared in his honey-colored eyes.

"You won't be able to get home without this."

Inuyasha held out his hand to her and Kagome took it, letting an object fall into her palm. She heard a quiet jingle and pulled her hand back, noticing the small flashes of chrome in the light. After a few moments of examining, a small gasp left her lips, realization setting in on her.

"Inuyasha," Kagome began, still staring at the object in her hand. "This is-"

"Like I said," Inuyasha responded, a mischievous undertone to his voice, and wrapped an arm around her waist. "You'll need this to get in."

Smiling brightly, Kagome looked into the permeating gaze of her Inu-hanyou with a loving gaze. This simple exchange meant so much, and she was ecstatic that he was willing to go so far with her; the mutual trust they shared being established on a material level she hadn't expected. "Thank you, Inuyasha."

In reply, Inuyasha bent down and gently kissed her soft lips, growling affectionately as she pressed back and allowed him in, battling the invader with soft jabs and sweetly long strokes, before nibbling on her bottom lip as he pulled back with a satisfied smirk.

"I'll see you at home, wench."

* * *

**End-Notes:** This story began almost three years ago, was dropped, and then started again on a whim. The author of this work is happy to have finally finished it and sincerely hopes that other readers have enjoyed it as well. To all future writers, reviewers, and supporters; Good luck to you all!

Signed, **"Damien"**


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